Crews have begun removing a statue of former Vice President John C. Calhoun in South Carolina.
The removal, which started before dawn on Wednesday morning, came less than 24 hours after the Charleston City Council’s unanimous vote to take the statue down. Calhoun’s statue is the latest monument dedicated to historical U.S. figures who supported slavery to come down amid a recent wave of social justice seeking to end systemic racism and police brutality, according to NPR.
The city’s mayor, John Tecklenburg, urged for the statue to remain intact and preserved at either a local museum or a higher education learning facility with appropriate historical context because Calhoun notoriously defended slavery and owned slaves.
“We are taking this action only after careful consideration of the facts of Mr. Calhoun’s life,” he explained. Tecklenburg also labeled Calhoun “South Carolina’s most prominent national statesman” and “its most consequential defender of slavery and white supremacy.”
The city had to determine if the statue was legally allowed to be removed under the Heritage Act, which bars the removal of war memorials in the state. Tecklenburg noted that the statue of Calhoun “is not a war memorial” and that “by [removing the statue], I believe we bring peace.”
During Calhoun’s life, he was a senator, secretary of state, and seventh vice president of the United States, serving under President John Quincy Adams from 1825-1829 and President Andrew Jackson from 1829-1832.
