Virginia removes Lee statue from U S Capitol overnight crowrivermedia.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from crowrivermedia.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Photo Courtesy of Jack Mayer, Office of Governor Northam.
WASHINGTON, D.C. Governor Ralph Northam today announced that Virginia’s statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee was removed from the United States Capitol overnight. A representative from the governor’s office was present for the removal along with United States Senator Tim Kaine and Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton.
Each state is entitled to display two statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection, and for 111 years, the Confederate statue has stood along with America’s first president George Washington as Virginia’s contributions. The two statues were added in 1909, which was 44 years after the Confederacy rebelled against the United States and was defeated. The Lee statue had been one among 13 located in the Crypt of the Capitol, representing the 13 original colonies.
Editorial: Right choice: Barbara Rose Johns deserves to stand in the U S Capitol richmond.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from richmond.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
To put it mildly, this represents a massive upgrade from Robert E. Lee, who led a military rebellion against the United States of America, all in the service of “states rights”….the right, that is, to own and exploit/abuse humans as slaves. The only bad news here is that this change from Lee to Johns took so long, but it’s great to see nonetheless! Thanks to Rep. Donald McEachin (D-VA04), Rep. Jennifer Wexton (D-VA10), and everyone else involved in making this happen!
P.S. See below for Gov. Northam’s press release.
Commission Selects Barbara Rose Johns to Represent Virginia in U.S. Capitol
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Virginia commission chooses civil rights leader Barbara Johns to replace Robert E. Lee statue in U.S. Capitol
Gregory S. Schneider, The Washington Post
Dec. 16, 2020
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RICHMOND, Va. - The statue of a Black teenage girl who dared to challenge segregation in Virginia schools could soon stand beside George Washington in the U.S. Capitol.
Barbara Rose Johns, who as a 16-year-old in 1951 led a protest of poor learning conditions for Black students in Farmville and helped dismantle school segregation nationwide, has been chosen by an advisory commission to replace Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee as one of two figures representing Virginia in the Capitol s Statuary Hall.