Dem
51
GOP
49
Black people are the largest ethnic group in Richmond, VA, comprising 45% of the population. And for more than 100 years, any Black folks who needed to travel down Monument Avenue, which is just a little north and west of downtown, were subjected to the sight of hagiographic monuments paying tribute to the heroes of the Confederacy. You know, the folks who fought to preserve slavery and white supremacy?
No more, though. Last year, most of the government-owned Confederate monuments in Richmond (the ones honoring Robert E. Lee, J.E.B. Stuart, Matthew Fontaine Maury, Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson) were removed. The last one left standing was the one that honored A.P. Hill. Why? Well, in part because Hill's statue was not on Monument Avenue; it was a few blocks to the northeast. And in part because Hill's mortal remains were interred in the pedestal, making it not only a monument but also a gravesite.
This week, the Hill statue finally came down. Hill's descendants are still fighting the decision in court, but they're out of luck. First, the statue belongs to the city and the city can do as it sees fit. Second, the deed is already done. Good luck finding a judge willing to order that the statue be returned to the spot from which it was removed.
The statue was not destroyed, though its disposition is still in question. The city wants to give it to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, which also took possession of the other monuments that were removed. A museum, of course, can put something like that in historical context, and can transform something that was celebratory into something that is illuminating and educational. Hill's family, by contrast, wants the statue moved to their ancestor's new gravesite, to act as a headstone. They are not likely to win that one, either.
In any event, wherever the statue goes, it will no longer occupy a place of honor in a plurality-Black city. Mayor Levar Stoney's remark, as the monument was lifted off its base, was "This is, I would say, the last day of the Lost Cause." It is about damn time. (Z)