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Meanwhile, the statue of Jefferson Davis in the US Capitol is ... still there. https://twitter.com/thevictorpuente/status/1271490430987841536
(The legislature and governor of Mississippi are empowered to remove it — not Congress — since that state sent it, according to a 2000 law.) https://www.aoc.gov/sites/default/files/statue_replacement_guidelines_2014.pdf
But the Joint Committee on the Library, chaired by Sen. @RoyBlunt, could move it now to a less prominent place than NATIONAL STATUARY HALL.
For example, the statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee has been moved to the US Capitol Crypt.
Only the Va. leg and @GovNortham, who is trying to remove other Lee statues, can remove this one.
Only the Va. leg and @GovNortham, who is trying to remove other Lee statues, can remove this one.
Other confederates prominently displayed in the @uscapitol National Statuary Hall:
Alexander Stephens
Zebulon Vance
Joseph Wheeler
Only the govs and leges of Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama, respectively, can replace them.
Alexander Stephens
Zebulon Vance
Joseph Wheeler
Only the govs and leges of Georgia, North Carolina and Alabama, respectively, can replace them.
If you’ve never heard of “Fightin’ Joe” Wheeler, well, he oversaw the massacre of hundreds, if not thousands of blacks people at Ebenezer Creek in 1864.
(I wrote about it in my first WaPo byline in 2014.) https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/civil-war-massacre-launched-reparations-debate/2014/09/11/ab269406-349c-11e4-9e92-0899b306bbea_story.html
(I wrote about it in my first WaPo byline in 2014.) https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/civil-war-massacre-launched-reparations-debate/2014/09/11/ab269406-349c-11e4-9e92-0899b306bbea_story.html
I also wrote about the 11 total confederate statues in the US Capitol after Charlottesville in 2017.
Since then, two states have taken the steps to remove theirs. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/08/16/how-statues-of-robert-e-lee-and-other-confederates-got-into-the-u-s-capitol/
Since then, two states have taken the steps to remove theirs. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/08/16/how-statues-of-robert-e-lee-and-other-confederates-got-into-the-u-s-capitol/
Florida will soon replace a statue of Edmund Kirby Smith — the last confederate general to surrender — with one of black educator Mary McLeod Bethune.
And Arkansas will soon replace a statue of confederate attorney Uriah Milton Rose with none other than Johnny Cash.
Though the Arkansas governor said the removal *wasn’t* because Rose was a confederate, just that they wanted more current representative statues. (Ark. is also replacing the statue of a racist governor with civil rights activist Daisy Lee Gatson Bates.) https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/johnny-cash-to-replace-confederate-statue-on-capitol-hill/2019/04/17/27058054-6153-11e9-9412-daf3d2e67c6d_story.html
The law allowing replacement of state-commissioned statues in the US Capitol took effect 20 years ago, but only a few states have done it -- most recently, Nebraska, which replaced William Jennings Bryan with Chief Standing Bear.
I wrote about that here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/09/20/civil-rights-leader-almost-nobody-knows-about-gets-statue-us-capitol/
I wrote about that here: https://www.washingtonpost.com/history/2019/09/20/civil-rights-leader-almost-nobody-knows-about-gets-statue-us-capitol/
Btw, when the first Confederate statue went into the Capitol in 1909 (of Lee by Va.) it was a national scandal.
A Kansas lawmaker threatened to have a statue of John Brown sent to the Capitol. A Mich. congressman submitted a bill to have a statue of Brown installed in RICHMOND.
A Kansas lawmaker threatened to have a statue of John Brown sent to the Capitol. A Mich. congressman submitted a bill to have a statue of Brown installed in RICHMOND.
But over the next few decades, as the myth-making of the "Lost Cause" took root, more Confederate statues were installed.
By 1931, when the last two were added, the US Marine Band played at the ceremony.
By 1931, when the last two were added, the US Marine Band played at the ceremony.
Speaker Pelosi called this week for the statues to be removed. She did the same (as minority leader) in 2017.
But it isn't up to her, or Congress. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pelosi-calls-for-removing-confederate-statues-from-capitol/2020/06/10/cbea41a2-ab7d-11ea-a43b-be9f6494a87d_story.html
But it isn't up to her, or Congress. https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/pelosi-calls-for-removing-confederate-statues-from-capitol/2020/06/10/cbea41a2-ab7d-11ea-a43b-be9f6494a87d_story.html
If you live in Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia or West Virginia: It is up to YOUR legislatures and YOUR governors.
(full list in this 2017 story) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/08/16/how-statues-of-robert-e-lee-and-other-confederates-got-into-the-u-s-capitol/
(full list in this 2017 story) https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/retropolis/wp/2017/08/16/how-statues-of-robert-e-lee-and-other-confederates-got-into-the-u-s-capitol/
