'An incredible day' as Lee statue removed in Charlottesville
Source: AP
By SARAH RANKIN
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) Cheers erupted Saturday as a Confederate statue that towered for nearly a century over downtown Charlottesville was carted away by truck from the Virginia city where it had become a flashpoint for racist protests and deadly violence.
It was a day of palpable joy and immense relief for scores of residents and visitors who lined neighboring streets to watch the larger-than-life figure of Gen. Robert E. Lee as it was hoisted from its pedestal and taken at least for now to storage.
The statues removal came more than five years after racial justice activists had renewed a push to take down the monument, an initiative that drew the attention of white supremacists and other racist groups, culminating in the violent Unite the Right rally in 2017.
Im ecstatic that were here now. Its sad that its taken so much to get us to this point. But this is an incredible day, said Don Gathers, a local Black activist who long advocated for the statues removal.
The monument of Robert E. Lee is removed on Saturday, July 10, 2021 in Charlottesville, Va. The removal of the Lee and Jackson statues comes nearly four years after violence erupted at the infamous Unite the Right rally. (Erin Edgerton/The Daily Progress via AP)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/charlottesville-robert-e-lee-statue-removed-2efbc5e13b74e2545a0f6642e2384308
Blue Owl
(50,532 posts)calling gunshots friendly fire
ZonkerHarris
(24,273 posts)Skittles
(153,230 posts)sickening
PatrickforB
(14,599 posts)to this republic.
AZ8theist
(5,517 posts)Hopefully this ASSWIPES' LIFE has been destroyed as well....
(fucking Hitler haircut....what a douchebag...)
jcmaine72
(1,773 posts)...Confederate monuments. He thought they would keep open the sores left behind by the war.
If these RW idiots are such fervent admirers of Lee and the history he represents (which they stupidly claim is being erased), they'd respect his wishes and celebrate the removal of these scab-opening eyesores.
EYESORE 9001
(26,004 posts)The confederate-sympathizing civic leaders of that era commissioned creation of statues on a mass scale for distribution to towns and cities. They were placed strategically to remind African Americans of where the sympathies of those in power lay.
electric_blue68
(14,967 posts)felt so good!
Visually you saw it approaching, then going past you (straight on through) then going away from you.
Like riding off into the sunset never to return or maybe
to a museum of Southern Confederate racist statues. 👍
twodogsbarking
(9,853 posts)and those in the south same. We are not enemies because of a geographical location.
EYESORE 9001
(26,004 posts)For example, I consider those who fight to retain these symbols of hatred and apartheid my enemies. They are too far gone for redemption AFAIC.
LetMyPeopleVote
(145,722 posts)twodogsbarking
(9,853 posts)Last edited Sun Jul 11, 2021, 12:30 PM - Edit history (1)
The William Tell Overture