Wednesday, August 16, 2017

Richmond Mayor Attempst to Exploit Charlottesville Tragedy, Calls for Removal of Confederate Memorials on Monument Avenue






The Virginia Flaggers are deeply disturbed that Richmond’s Mayor has chosen to attempt to shamelessly capitalize on the tragedy in Charlottesville by suddenly changing course and directing the Monument Avenue Commission to pursue the removal of the monuments on Richmond’s majestic Monument Avenue as a viable option.  Instead of seeking to work with and represent all of his constituents, he has chosen to escalate tensions and encourage lawlessness, such as was witnessed by the violent anarchist Antifa march in Richmond Sunday night, and which will certainly be amplified with his announcement. 

Mayor Stoney is fully aware that discussion of the removal of ANY veteran’s monument in the Commonwealth is a waste of time as it is a violation of state law and any attempt to do so will cost the city millions in legal fees and damages, while creating division and disunity among her residents.  The citizens of the Commonwealth overwhelmingly oppose removal of memorials and the thousands of direct descendants of Confederate veterans are not going to sit by quietly and allow our history and heritage to be dismantled to appease a few extremists. 

We call on the Mayor to do the right thing for the community, and what citizens suggested over and over in the public meeting just last week (and which he would have heard had he attended) …leave the existing monuments alone and pursue the development and construction of new monuments in other areas of the city.  

2 comments:

Meade Skelton Haufe said...

How can we stop this? Is there a way to organize something? Can the Sons of Confederate Veterans get involved?

C. W. Aldridge II said...

As most everyone knows the Civil War was the most gut-wrenching moment in our American Experience. Richmond was naturally Ground-Zero in that event. In many ways the City of Richmond is itself a museum to that point in time. However Monument Ave. is not so much a memorial but a reminder of that period. Richmond will hopefully always be a southern town. During that conflict both sides fought with courage and love of land. The North and South gave and paid dearly. The monuments are a reminder of that. Just as the Alamo was preserved, the Little Big Horn saved, yes even the Death Camps of Europe preserved...they are touch stones for events that have come and gone. Thankfully for those who survived we are all the better for it. Yes we've made progress, perhaps even Arthur Ashe, that forever quiet, humble but devastating brilliant , cool man might admit that. How easy it is in the excitement of the moment, in a politically charged environment to bring down these statues. How seemingly right, how trendy, how "so now". Could it be possible for any person of color to feel, think objectively about these monuments? Perhaps not -- on the surface-- why should they? However in many ways these statues are testaments in stone to how far the American Black experience has come today.