Virginia Ready To Remove Massive Robert E. Lee Statue, Following A Year Of Lawsuits

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The statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee is bathed in the late sun on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va., Sept. 6, 2021. The statue is due to be removed Wednesday after a ruling by the Virginia Supreme Court.





Steve Helber/AP



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Steve Helber/AP



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In the decades following its construction in 1890, the statue became a focal point for a wealthy, all-white neighborhood; Lee was later joined by statues to other Confederate leaders. In 1996, a statue of Black tennis champion Arthur Ashe was added to the avenue, despite serious opposition, under the direction of then-Gov. Douglas Wilder, the first Black person to serve as governor of any state since Reconstruction.

Since June 2020, the Lee monument has become a community gathering place for people, many of whom said they might not have ever stepped foot on the property had it not been for the Black Lives Matter protests. To some, the statue of the Confederate general atop a horse and the graffiti-covered pedestal is more of an afterthought now because of how much the plot has transformed in the last 15 months.

Lee’s statue is the largest Confederate monument in the City of Richmond, and one of the largest in the country. Nearly every other Confederate statue in the city was removed last summer, either by protesters or the city itself at the request of Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney.

Activists have celebrated the removal of the monument, but have noted it was only one of the demands they’ve made. They say they’ll continue calling for major structural reforms to the state’s criminal justice system.

Officials say the statue will be removed early on Wednesday and the graffiti-covered pedestal will remain in place while discussions continue about the future of Monument Avenue.