For decades, people have been advocating for the removal of Confederate statues. While there are monuments set up throughout the United States, the South, unsurprisingly, is where an overwhelming amount of statues dedicated to the leaders of the Confederacy continue to sit. Confederate General Robert E. Lee and his soldiers fought for the secession of 11 slave states—Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, Arkansas, Tennessee—and while the South lost the Civil War, many people still hail Confederate leaders. According to The Associated Press, amid Black Lives Matter and George Floyd protests, Virginia Governor Ralph Northam plans on removing the historical statue of General Lee, a controversial move that has residents at odds.
According to Fox 5, a senior official, who wanted to remain anonymous, shared that the statue's removal should be completed soon. "The governor will direct the statue to be moved off its massive pedestal and put into storage while his administration seeks input on a new location, according to the official," the outlet stated.
Richmond, Virginia is the former capital of the Confederacy, so a move such as this is bound to spark outrage from Confederate supporters and apologists. It was just three years ago when white supremacists and neo-Nazi's joined together in Charlottesville, Virginia for the Unite The Right rally where protesters joined together with hate speech in support of keeping Confederate monuments up in the state. Counter-protesters were also on the scene when white supremacist James Alex Fields Jr. drove his car into their crowd, killing a woman named Heather Heyer.
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