The city of Charlottesville is preparing to remove two Confederate monuments this weekend.
Far-right groups descended on the city in 2017 as "Unite the Right," a rally to protest the planned removal of the statue of General Robert E. Lee from a city park. Four years later, that monument, as well as a statue of Confederate General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, are coming down.
Charlottesville City Council first considered removing the Lee statue in 2016, after a petition by then high school student Zyahna Bryant, but the plan was derailed by a lengthy legal battle and required changes to state law.
It remains to be seen where the nearly 100-year-old statues will go. The city is offering them to interested museums or historical societies.
The fate of another Confederate monument, the 60-foot-tall statue of Lee located on Richmond’s historic Monument Avenue, is still unclear. The Virginia Supreme Court is weighing a challenge to the state’s planned removal.
