CNN:
Virginia on Wednesday took down a towering statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, the last Confederate statue remaining along Richmond’s historic Monument Avenue.
A pair of rulings from the state Supreme Court last week cleared the way for its removal after intense national debate over the 12-ton statue’s purpose and place along the nearly one-mile, tree-lined street in the city that was once the capital of the Confederacy. The statue, like other symbols of the Confederacy in the commonwealth and and across the country including the busts of Confederate figures in the Virginia statehouse, was removed after the killing of George Floyd prompted a nationwide reckoning with police brutality and racism.
Lawrence West, founder of BLM RVA, told CNN it is “very satisfying, gratifying” to see the statue being removed. His group has occupied the space surrounding the Lee monument — unofficially dubbed by protesters the Marcus-David Peters Circle in honor of a Black teacher who was killed by police while experiencing a “mental health crisis” — since June 2020 amid protests over Floyd’s death.
All this time and it’s not over. Is it the end of the beginning yet?