This was one of GGWash’s most popular articles in 2020. We’re sharing some of our hits again over the holiday season.
Public calls for Confederate statues to be removed from Richmond’s streetscape are not a new occurrence in Virginia’s capital; however, the focus of Northside residents’ most recent campaign to move one monument is not racism—but safety.
After decades of crashes and the General Assembly’s recent decision to give localities control over Confederate memorials, 2020 could be the year General A. P. Hill stops causing car collisions.
Who put that there?
The Commonwealth, like most states in the US, has never reckoned with its long, dark history of slavery, segregation, and prejudice. The birthplace of Massive Resistance is only just beginning to come to terms with its traumatic treatment of Black Americans over the centuries, and Virginia’s 223 public spaces proudly displaying Confederate monuments have quickly become the frontline of this fight.