Northam confirms planned removal of Lee statue

Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam confirmed today during a press conference that the Robert E. Lee statue on Monument Avenue in the city of Richmond will be removed in the weeks ahead. Northam will direct the state's Department of General Services to remove the six-story statue that overlooks the city as soon as possible, he said.

“Today, Virginia is home to more confederate commemorations than any other state. . . Instead of choosing to heal the wounds of the Civil War, they chose to keep them on display right here in Richmond,” Northam said.

Pastor Robert W. Lee IV, a descendant of Robert E. Lee spoke in agreement with the removal of the Lee statue during the governor’s press conference.

“When will it be right to address the white supremacy and racism that we have made an idol of my uncle?” Lee said.

Attorney General Mark Herring suggested that the statue has represented a feeling of oppression for blacks in the city.

“How do you tell a black man or a black woman that they’re going to get a fair and impartial trial when the entrance to the court house is literally blocked by a monument to a movement that sought to keep them enslaved?” he said during the  press conference.

Zyahna Bryant, a student at University of Virginia who wrote the original petition in 2016 to remove the Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, also spoke during the press conference, saying that a number of barriers remain before blacks feel truly equal.

“I want to be clear that there will be no healing or reconciliation until we have equity, until we have fully dismantled the systems that oppress black and brown people,” Bryant said.

According to Northam, the first step in taking action toward changing the system that currently in place is turning talk into action with other leaders in the commonwealth.

Republican state senator Amanda Chase, who is seeking the Republican nomination for governor, said in a statement this morning that the move was misguided.

"Removing the Robert E. Lee statue is a cowardly capitulation to the looters and domestic terrorists," Chase wrote. "If the state is unable to defend a monument weighing several tons in a well-lit area, what hope do citizens have of the government protecting their houses and businesses? Instead of appeasing the left-wing mob, Northam's surrender will only lead to future calls to erase Founding Fathers from the public and our history books. Ralph needs to reverse course!"

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