The Supreme Court of Virginia has ruled that the state may demolish a huge statue of Confederate General Robert E.
RICHMOND, Va. – The Virginia Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the state may demolish a huge statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that was widely regarded as a symbol of racial injustice when dominated by Monument Avenue in the capital. state. for over a century.
The high court ruling came in two lawsuits filed by Virginia residents who tried to block the removal of the 6-foot bronze equestrian sculpture, which shows Lee in military attire on a 12-foot pedestal. feet.
The court held that the “restrictive covenants” of the deeds of 1887 and 1890 which transferred the statue to the state no longer apply.
“These restrictive pacts are inapplicable, as they are contrary to public policy and are irrational because their effect is to force the government’s speech, forcing the Commonwealth to express, in perpetuity, a message with which it now disagrees.” wrote the judges.
Northam announced its decision to remove the statue in June 2020, ten days after the death of George Floyd under the knee of a Minneapolis police officer, which sparked protests over police brutality and racism in cities. across the country, including Richmond. The nationally recognized statue became the epicenter of a protest movement in Virginia after Floyd’s death and its base is now covered in graffiti.
A group of residents who owned property near the statue and a descendant of signatories from the 1890 deed who transferred the statue, pedestal, and land where they are located filed separate lawsuits.
Descendant William Gregory argued that the state agreed to “faithfully guard” and “affectionately protect” the statue. And five landowners argued that the governor was bound by a joint 1889 resolution of the Virginia General Assembly that accepted the statue and agreed to keep it as a monument to Lee.
During a hearing before the Supreme Court on June 8, plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that the Virginia Constitution does not grant the governor the authority to remove the statue. But Attorney General Mark Herring’s office said a small group of private citizens cannot force the state to maintain a monument that no longer reflects its values.
“Today is a historic day in Virginia. Today we turn the page to a new chapter in the history of our Commonwealth: one of growth, openness, healing and hope, ”Herring said in a statement Thursday.
Patrick McSweeney and Joseph Blackburn Jr., plaintiffs’ attorneys, could not be contacted immediately to comment on whether they plan to appeal the sentence to the U.S. Supreme Court.
A spokeswoman for Gov. Ralph Northam said his office would have comments soon.
It was not immediately known how long the removal task could be carried out, a job that will require special heavy equipment. The state has been working on detailed plans that include extracting a time capsule that is believed to be inside the base.
Earlier this summer, the Northam office said it intended to leave the statue’s huge pedestal in place as they are working to rethink the design of Monument Avenue. Some racial justice advocates see the pedestal as a symbol of the protest movement that erupted after Floyd’s assassination and do not want it to move.
Lee’s statue was the first of five Confederate monuments to be erected on Richmond’s Monument Avenue, at a time when the Civil War and Reconstruction were over, but Jim Crow’s laws of racial segregation were on the rise.
When the statue arrived in 1890 from France, where it was created, thousands of Virginians used wagons to help it tear it to pieces for more than a mile to where it currently stands. White residents celebrated the statue of the Civil War hero and the native Virgin, but many black residents have long seen it as a monument glorifying slavery.
The city of Richmond, which was the capital of the Confederacy for most of the Civil War, has removed more than a dozen pieces of Confederate statuary from the city floor since Floyd’s death. lead to the removal of Confederate monuments in cities across the country.