As the nation attempts to reckon with systemic racism, lawmakers in Virginia are moving to speed up the process of taking down Confederate monuments.
Over the past few months, monuments across the Commonwealth have been coming off their pedestals... some at the hands of protestors, others with authorization from elected officials.
After a man was injured when protestors tried to take down a Confederate statue in Portsmouth, Delegate Delores McQuinn said it should be up to localities to quickly decide how and when they want to alter war memorials.
“Those local governments who have been elected by the people would be in the best position to determine how they want to address monuments and statues,” she said.
Earlier this year, members of the General Assembly brokered a deal: cities and counties can control the fate of their monuments, but they have to follow a series of procedures that would take at least two months before any changes can happen.
McQuinn’s bill would remove that process altogether.
Republican Delegate Charles Poindexter had this objection.
“That would seem to me to reduce or virtually eliminate the public participation in such a decision,” opposed Poindexter.
Ultimately his concern wasn’t strong enough to win the majority and House lawmakers passed the bill.
What comes next is up to the Senate, where the top-ranking member, Louise Lucas, is facing felony charges for injury to a Confederate monument.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.