Richmond is removing its Robert E. Lee statue today.
The erection of the statue & similar statues in the late 1800s caused huge fights, with black leaders -- incl. Frederick Douglass & black members in the Richmond City Council -- fighting it.
David Blight's "Race & Reunion":
The erection of the statue & similar statues in the late 1800s caused huge fights, with black leaders -- incl. Frederick Douglass & black members in the Richmond City Council -- fighting it.
David Blight's "Race & Reunion":
We often see ppl shrug-off oppressive practices in the past, "they were living according to the consensus of the times" --- but "the times" contained plenty of public resistance, dissension & dissent, protest, & crushing those were inexcusable political choices not some fate.
It’s remarkable for the AP echo that misleading framing that Lee being a symbol of racism is seen “now.” Those were the fault lines of the conflict over this *in* the 19th century— both in terms of the racist exclusions around which “reunion” was built & black leaders’ protests.
https://twitter.com/AP/status/1434976706020978693
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