A state panel voted unanimously Friday to recommend removal of a statue of Robert E. Lee in the U.S. capitol. It’s just the latest in a string of monuments coming down.
The Virginia Commission for Historical Statues in the United States Capitol met Friday morning, just a few hours after a statue of Robert E. Lee - along with several other Confederate-related artifacts - were removed from the statehouse in Richmond.
The Commission's work is unrelated to the statehouse in Richmond though. Instead, it's tasked with deciding what to do with Virginia’s statues at the U.S. Capitol. Each state gets to choose two statues to stand in the halls of Congress in D.C. Virginia’s are of George Washington and Robert E. Lee.
After recieving public input, almost all of which supported removing Lee, the commission voted. U.S. Capitol tour guide Jessica Jackson told commission members that the statues tell a story to capitol visitors.
“When we move through the halls of Congress and we are able to tell the stories of the people that are immortalized in bronze and marble, we find that it is controversial having statues that are of Confederates,” Jackson testified.
After the virtual vote, state Senator Louise Lucas said her soul was happy.
Delegate Jeion Ward said it’s time to replace the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee with someone all Virginians can be proud of.
“As a black woman, how can I talk to my grandchildren and tell them this man, that we hold in high esteem, he actually fought to keep our family enslaved?” she asked.
The state commission will soon send a formal request for removal to the Library of Congress, and then start talks on an alternative statue to represent Virginia in the nation’s capital.
They meet again in early August.
This report, provided by Virginia Public Radio, was made possible with support from the Virginia Education Association.
