The City of Charlottesville, Virginia, officially removed Saturday morning the statues of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, both of which have been a political flashpoint in the community since the 2017 “Unite the Right” rally that descended into chaos and violence, resulting in the death of 32-year-old protester Heather Heyer. The removals come as far-left radicals seek to destroy statuary across the country, with a much broader scope than just Confederates. The City of Charlottesville also decided to remove a statue depicting Lewis, Clarke, and Sacagawea on their exploration of the Louisiana Purchase. Across the country, however, statues of many Founding Fathers, including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, have been destroyed or vandalized. Martin Luther King, Jr. has been singled out as a figure whose statuary deserves to be removed. In Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser has recommended the removal of statues of Christopher Columbus, Benjamin Franklin, Andrew Jackson, Thomas Jefferson, George Mason, and even the Washington Monument..
Charlottesville’s Robert E. Lee, ‘Stonewall’ Jackson Statues Officially Removed
The statue of George Rogers Clark «confronting» three Native Americans is removed from its base on Sunday, July 11, 2021 at University of Virginia in Charlottesville, Va. (Erin Edgerton/The Daily Progress via AP/NTB