Virginia to Remove Statue of
Confederate General Robert E. Lee Plans to remove the monument in the city of Richmond
will be revealed Thursday by Governor Ralph Northam. A senior administration official tells
the Associated Press (AP) that the statue
of Lee will be put into storage. The official adds that Northam's administration
will discuss plans to move it to a new location. The move comes amid nationwide protests
against police brutality and racism after
the death of George Floyd. Confederate monuments have become targets of Virginia protesters. Besides General Lee, Monument Avenue has
four other Confederate monuments. They include statues of Confederate President
Jefferson Davis and Confederate General
Stonewall Jackson. They have also been hit with graffiti
messages such as "stop white supremacy." Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney has revealed
that he plans to take down the other statues
from Monument Avenue as well. Levar Stoney,
via statement Bill Gallasch, president of the
Monument Avenue Preservation Society,
opposes the decision to remove the monuments. According to AP, Gallasch believes removing the
statues will hurt tourism in Richmond and create
violence between groups on both sides of the issue.