- Virginia will demolish the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee.
- After George Floyd was killed, Governor Ralph Northam announced these plans.
- Nearby residents filed a lawsuit to prevent the relocation, but failed.
The statue of Robert E. Lee, a six-story Confederate Civil War general in Richmond, Virginia, is about to collapse this week and is at the core of the protest against racial injustice.
The Commonwealth of Virginia announced on Sunday that it will demolish the 12-ton bronze statue on Monument Avenue on Wednesday and store it in a safe state-owned storage site until its future is finalized.
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Days after the Virginia Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Governor Ralph Northam could remove it, the statue is planned to be removed in the capital because the documents controlling its location are out of date.
The Democrat Northam announced plans to demolish the statue in June 2020, 10 days after a white policeman in Minneapolis killed George Floyd, a black man, and sparked national protests.
In recent years, statues commemorating the leaders of the Confederate side who supported slavery in the American Civil War have become the focus of protests against racism.
Nearby residents filed a lawsuit to stop the demolition. They said they have the right to leave the statue in place and should ignore it.
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The court disagreed, saying that the documents controlling the location of the statue were outdated and unenforceable.
Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney said that any place that replaces the Li statue should convey a clear message: “Richmond is no longer the capital of the Confederacy. We are a diverse, open and welcoming city, and our symbols need to reflect This reality.”
The six-story statue sits on a 12.2 m granite base, which will remain in place as the community reimagines Monument Avenue, a tourist attraction in the former capital of the Confederacy.
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