Confederate statues in Virginia may soon be subject to removal after the Democratic-led state House and Senate passed legislation over the weekend that would undo a law that blocks the removal of public war memorials.
The bill will now go to Democratic Gov. Ralph Northam, who has already indicated his support for localities having a final say on the issue.
The legislation includes exceptions for cemeteries and the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, which has a statue of Confederate Gen. Stonewall Jackson. The bill also contains steps a locality must take before removing a monument.
At the start of the legislative session, Northam announced what he called “a historic justice agenda aimed at telling the accurate and complete story of Virginia’s past.”
Del. Delores McQuinn of Richmond, one of the bill’s sponsors, told the Associated Press she “feels great” about giving local leaders the power to decide what stands in their communities, even if many of them keep the monuments.
“I think more of them are going to be interested in contextualizing, you know, making sure that there is a sense of truth told and shared with the public,” she said.
Critics of the monuments say they are offensive to African Americans and celebrate the Confederacy and its defense of slavery.
Lt. Gov. Justin Fairfax, who presides over the Senate, said: “My family has lived with the trauma of slavery for generations. … I hope that you understand that this is a situation that’s so deeper than a simple vote on simple war memorials.”
Others think the removal of the monuments is erasing history.
Republican Amanda Chase noted in the Senate debate over the bill that slavery was evil, “but it doesn’t mean that we take all of these monuments down,” she said. “We remember our past and learn from it,” she added.
Virginia is home to more than 220 public memorials to the Confederacy, according to state officials. Republicans were able to strike down similar legislation in recent years. The debate over monuments attracted national attention during the deadly Unite the Right clash in Charlottesville in 2017, which started with a protest over the proposed removal of the Robert E. Lee statue in the city. A judge blocked the removal of the Confederate general, citing a state historic preservation statute.
