In August 2017, I wrote about the controversy raging over the proposed removal of the Confederate statues on Monument Avenue in my hometown of Richmond Virginia. Now some of those statues are coming down at the hands of protestors. I’m confident the rest will come down eventually, ideally through legislative or judicial action, though opponents to removal are putting up a fight, so we’ll see. This resistance to the removal of the statues baffles me. They should have been gone long ago, and replaced with symbols that unify the city, not divide it!
They are located at important intersections along one of Richmond’s most important and best-maintained thoroughfares, on a section of the avenue that runs through one of the city’s wealthiest residential areas and the Museum District. As a boy, I loved driving down Monument Avenue because of those statues. I didn’t know who the statues depicted, let alone the role those leaders played in history, but I thought they were awesome. The statue of Robert E. Lee is the most impressive. At the center of a manicured traffic circle, is 14 ft (4.3 m) high, and depicts the Confederate General on his beloved horse. What kid wouldn’t be impressed?
That is the problem. Those statues are not intended to remind us of history, they are designed to celebrate and inspire admiration for the men they depict. For the moment, let’s leave aside the fact that there are no statues of women on Monument Avenue and the concerns about representation that this brings up. Those issues are beyond the scope of this post. With one exception, the statue of Arthur Ashe, the figures celebrated on Monument Avenue are not men worthy of emulation. Some did good things, to be sure. For example, Matthew Maury was a man of science, an astronomer, historian, oceanographer, meteorologist, cartographer, author, geologist, and educator, all things that are very cool. But he was also a US Naval Officer who resigned his commission to join the Confederacy, so he should not be honored on Monument Avenue.
The section of Monument Avenue where these statues are located is beautiful. Historic homes, a manicured median and, yes, those glorious statues. But those statues glorify something that should not be glorified. Indeed, it should be the opposite! How is it even a question that we might want to glorify secessionists and defenders of slavery?
I don’t remember how or when I began to understand who these men were, but it didn’t take me long to realize that they were not leaders fighting for some of some lost but noble cause, a myth shared by many in the South. The statues are monuments to leaders of a secessionist movement that tore the country apart in an effort to preserve an economic system based on treating human beings as chattel! I can only begin to imagine how members of Richmond’s African-American population feel when they see the statues, but I feel shame.
People say removing the statues is erasing history, but that is simply not true. This is a reckoning over which aspects of our history we choose to celebrate with ostentatious public monuments. Monuments in our pubic squares should be about creating unity by promoting our common values. The J.E.B. Stuart, Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, Stonewall Jackson, and Matthew Fontaine Maury monuments represent the exact opposite. Confederate symbols are monuments to a history of pain and cruelty endured by the ancestors of the majority of the city’s residents who are African-American. That fact, alone, justifies their removal.
I am proud of many things about my native city, but not of the fact that Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy. I am also ashamed of the lingering legacy of racism that has persisted long after the defeat of the South in the Civil War! Indeed, I would venture to guess that many White residents of Virginia are also in favor of moving the statues away from Monument Avenue. I respect the beliefs of those who think the statues should remain, even those who believe Confederate leaders are worthy of honor. This is the United States of America, and they are entitled to believe what they want. However, my respect for their beliefs doesn’t mean I believe we need to ostentatiously display symbols of the Confederacy in full view of the majority who are offended by them. The statues and all Confederate symbols must be removed from places on honor in the public square. Put them in a museum where proper context can be provided.
Taking down statues celebrating the Confederacy doesn’t mean we have to pave over those traffic circles and destroy the aesthetics of Monument Avenue. We can still have beautifully landscaped streets with magnificent monuments simply by replacing those statues with ones that will attract, rather than intimidate people of all races. Richmond is the State Capital, so why not honor historical figures that all Virginians can be proud of? Why not end the tradition of celebrating only warriors, and build monuments to prominent educators, scientists, first responders, Civil Rights leaders, artists, athletes, labor leaders, or inventors? Why not celebrate the contributions of Virginians to the arts and sciences?
The monument to Arthur Ashe was a good start, but it is not enough. Virginia has many historical figures to choose from, enough that we could replace the statues of Confederate leaders, and still have enough women and men worthy of being honored that we could extend the monuments beyond the current historic district. Let’s line the length of Monument Avenue, from Downtown to Horsepen Road, with monuments that celebrate the full diversity of Virginia’s history, and the diversity of our citizenry! It could help revitalize the entire Richmond Metro Area, and it should be done now!
