Gov. Northam Removes Robert E. Lee Statue From Nation’s Capitol
Democratic Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam on Sunday removed a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from the nation’s capitol that had been standing for over 100 years, according to the Washington Examiner.
The monument was gifted to Washington, D.C., in 1909, and the move follows the governor’s promise to remove a similar statue of Lee from his home state of Virginia, according to the Examiner.
Each state submitted two monuments to display in the Capitol building, and the effigy of the infamous Confederate general was one of the Commonwealth’s choices, the Examiner wrote.
Northam on June 4 announced plans to remove a statue of Lee on horseback that was on display in Richmond, Virginia, following racial justice protests and riots that resulted from the death of George Floyd, CNN reported.
“That statue has been there for a long time,” Northam told reporters during a news conference at the time, according to CNN. “It was wrong then, and it’s wrong now. So we’re taking it down.”
“Make no mistake, removing a symbol is important but it’s only a step,” the governor said. “It doesn’t mean problems are solved. There are still monuments of inequalities that exist in our commonwealth and in this country.”
Democratic House Speaker Nancy Pelosi in early June requested that Congress approve the removal of 11 statues from the U.S. Capitol that had ties to the Confederate movement, a separate Examiner report detailed.
“The halls of Congress are the very heart of our democracy,” Pelosi wrote, according to the Examiner. “The statues in the Capitol should embody our highest ideals as Americans, expressing who we are and who we aspire to be as a nation.
“Monuments to men who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end are a grotesque affront to these ideals. Their statues pay homage to hate, not heritage. They must be removed,” Pelosi said.
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Trying to throw a few morsels to the ideological hyenas is what you would predict from Virginia’s infamous Democratic governor. When he feels ignored, or when his public persona isn’t getting the respect he deems appropriate, it is in perfect character for an authoritarian governor to try to erase some history for a little attention.
Robert E. Lee was an enormously important figure in nineteenth century America. None of that will change as the result of Northam’s nod to the unruly idealists on the Left. The governor is already dismissed by those who tend to affirm and enshrine a leader’s mettle. History will undoubtedly sneer at this dwarf on the Left.
There must be an easier way for some to hide history than to try to make people forget what they’ve learned. Maybe stop constantly talking about “Blacks” of the past so much? They seem to be an obsession with some and it’s being used as a weapon. None of us have been slave owners, none of us have been slaves. Maybe Blacks should start counting their lucky stars they aren’t slaves instead of seeking revenge and realize that we have advanced as a civilized nation tho’ it’s beginning to look like we are regressing somewhat. Which people of today will have their history wiped out, become “obsolete” because we think we can get rid of whatever we see as a mistake? What about the history we are creating today? There will be plenty of shame to go around and I doubt it will be forgotten. How stupid the governor of Virginia is and any other governor, or peon, who thinks they can “obsolete” a person or thing. I suppose all pictures in books of disgraced statues or documents or portraits will also have to be hidden or destroyed because they cause some sort of trauma of the brain? Can’t they find something better to do? Some day, someone will find the hidden history and it will be awakened because it’s what we do, learn from history. Hopefully the future citizens will have more important things to do than worry about a harmless statue.
If, in fact, this statue was “gifted to Washington, D.C.,” what gives the governor any right to remove the statue? Isn’t that theft when you take something belonging to someone else, or is accountability for one’s actions now another part of our history being removed? I certainly hope in the second term of President Trump we’ll succeed in restoring our history, not only in D.C. but our true history in schools and books everywhere.