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Richmond Mayor Calls for 'Context' to Confederate Monuments

Steve Helber
/
AP

 

 

The mayor of Virginia's capital city is weighing in on how to deal with Confederate monuments. Richmond mayor Levar Stoney announced Thursdayhe'd like to revamp Monument Avenue. The broad tree-lined boulevard in Richmond features memorials to several Confederate generals.

 

 

In 1890, just 25 years after the end of the Civil War, Richmond unveiled a bronze Robert E. Lee -- 60 feet high on a granite pedestal. In 1907, the city added a similar statue of Confederate General J.E.B. Stuart. Soon after came Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson.

 

At a press conference in Richmond Thursday, Mayor Levar Stoney was clear: he doesn't think those monuments should come down.

 

“I wish these monuments had never been built, but whether we like it or not they are part of our history, of the city,” said Stoney. "Removing monuments doesn't change race relations in our city. I'm just as insulted by those statues as anyone else. But what I'm most insulted by is that the fact that they currently stand up there without telling an ounce of the truth."

 

So Stoney has tasked a group of historians and city leaders with adding context to the monuments -- possibly in the form of additional signage. He also wants the group to explore adding additional monuments.

 

“I have also asked the commission to look into and solicit public opinion on changing the face of Monument Avenue by adding new monuments that would reflect a broader more inclusive story of our city. That is our goal,” he said.

 

Stoney hopes that goal can be achieved using private dollars. Public money, he says, should be focused on tackling the other legacies of Richmond's Jim Crow past -- struggling schools and public housing.

 

The commission begins its work this summer with multiple public hearings, and a final report to the Mayor's office by November.

 

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