Several controversial statues in Virginia were taken down today. This included the Confederate statue at the heart of the ‘Unite the Right’ rally. The Washington Post writes:
Nearly a century after it was first erected, and almost four years after it triggered a deadly weekend of violence, the statue of Robert E. Lee sitting on horseback in downtown Charlottesville was hoisted into the air Saturday and carted away on a truck.
Many of those watching the bronze monument come down shared the same response: It had been a long time coming.
Onlookers cheer as Confederate statues are taken down in Charlottesville, nearly four years after violent “Unite the Right” rally. https://t.co/habujn0eyb pic.twitter.com/H1p8r1cxc8
— CNN (@CNN) July 10, 2021
A nearby statue of Confederate General Stonewall Jackson was also taken down. Then NBC reports, “During a special emergency meeting, the Charlottesville City Council decided to take down the Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and Sacagawea statue.”
The Lewis, Clark & Sacajawea Statue has been removed from the Ridge-McIntire-West Main Street intersection. pic.twitter.com/dRRmWbxFfE
— Charlottesville City (@CvilleCityHall) July 10, 2021
When @ZyahnaB saw Charlottesville’s Confederate statues growing up, she thought about a history of oppression: “Black people have not felt welcome in certain spaces…Seeing it today — just a pedestal, no Confederate general standing on it — I was feeling hopeful for the future” pic.twitter.com/1NoLpHFPT1
— CBS News (@CBSNews) July 10, 2021
Watch more from MSNBC above.
