Thread by @nytopinion

"They were shouting and cursing and calling me every name but 'child of God.' They were calling for my resignation," recalls @LevarStoney, mayor of Richmond, Va., former capital of the Confederacy.

He wrote about the city after George Floyd’s murder. nyti.ms/3oIjo5r

The mayor had invited the crowd that was now cursing him after police patrolling the area around Richmond’s monument to Robert E. Lee released tear gas into what had been a peaceful demonstration.  nyti.ms/3oIjo5r

Mayor Stoney was apologizing for the use of tear gas on peaceful protesters, but it "was clear that the hostility was not just about what had happened the night before. There was a lot of pain on display." nyti.ms/3oIjo5r

"The only thing I could think to do, with the protesters on the steps of City Hall, was to march with them, if they’d have me. So that’s what we did." nyti.ms/3oIjo5r

In the aftermath of George Floyd's murder, the Lee Monument was altered by artists and protesters.

"I realized just how imposing and intimidating it must have been to previous generations of people who looked like me," writes Mayor Stoney. nyti.ms/3oIjo5r

On July 1, against advice from his legal team, Mayor Stoney took action to remove Confederate statues in Richmond. "Like other residents in our city that day, I cried," he writes. nyti.ms/3oIjo5r

Today, only the Lee Monument remains on Monument Avenue. Its removal is being challenged in court.

"A summer of protests inspired change, a just guilty verdict in Minneapolis brought temporary peace, and maybe even hope," writes @LevarStoney. Read on: nyti.ms/3oIjo5r