12/31/2020, 6 p.m.
The Virginia General Assembly has the final decision on the statue that will forever be a reflection of Virginia in our U.S. Capitol.
Gen. Robert E. Leeâs statue resided in the Capitol for more than a century and its removal, while demonstrative, should be followed by that of a person who shared his substance, contribution, lifelong dedication, commitment and pride in the state of Virginia.
While Barbara Rose Johns has been identified as a student leader and activist who initiated a rebellion against the dilapidated school facilities and material inequities at Moton High School, her efforts that resulted in the lawsuit Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County could not have been achieved without attorneys Oliver W. Hill Sr. and Spottswood Robinson III. They took the case and planned the legal strategy that led to the lawsuit. They were the civil rights attorney-warriors that did the work and fought the hard fight to incorporate the Davis case into the five that resulted in the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision by the U.S. Supreme Court striking down the doctrine of âseparate but equalâ and finding racial segregation in public education unconstitutional.