US Capitol to ditch General Lee's statue
People move the pedestal of Confederate General Robert E. Lee on Capitol Hill in Washington, US on Monday.
A statue of black civil rights activist Barbara Johns, who played a key role in the desegregation of the public school system, will be installed in the US Capitol rotunda, officials said on Monday, replacing one of a leader of the pro-slavery Confederacy.
Johns was 16 when she led classmates at her all-black Virginia high school in protest at substandard conditions, leading to a lawsuit that was resolved in the US Supreme Court’s 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision banning segregation.
The statue, provided by Virginia, will replace one of General Robert E. Lee, commander of the Confederate States Army and the Army of Northern Virginia during the Civil War.
“The Congress will continue our work to rid the Capitol of homages to hate, as we fight to end the scourge of racism in our country,” House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi said.
“There is no room for celebrating the bigotry of the Confederacy in the Capitol or any other place of honor in our country.”
Last May’s death of George Floyd while in the custody of Minneapolis police sparked demonstrations across the United States and the world, as protesters demanded policing reforms, especially in law enforcement’s treatment of Black Americans.
Massive pressure has been mounting for the removal of Confederate flags, statues, street signs and other memorials to Confederate military and political leaders.
