Lexington, KY is bumping up its removal of Confederate monuments after everything that happened in Charlottesville
Yesterday, a white supremacist and Nazi rally in Charlottesville, Virginia meant to protest the removal of Confederate monuments turned violent. Today, the mayor of Lexington, Kentucky issued a statement about the Confederate statues in his own city.
In light of yesterday’s events, where white supremacists gathered to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue, Mayor Jim Gray has decided to expedite the removal of Confederate monuments in Lexington. According to the Southern Poverty Law Center as of July, 60 Confederate symbols had already been removed from city- and state-owned land all across the United States.
“The tragic events in Charlottesville today have accelerated the announcement I intended to make next week,” wrote Gray in a statement. “Tuesday I will ask [the] Council to support Lexington’s petition to the KY Military Heritage Commission, a required next step. Details to come.”
The mayor of Lexington also spoke about the subject on Twitter.
I am taking action to relocate the Confederate statues. We have thoroughly examined this issue, and heard from many of our citizens.
— Mayor Jim Gray (@JimGrayLexKY) August 12, 2017
These statues should never been up in the first place. But removing them now is a step in the right direction. We hope other cities follow Lexington’s example. It’s important to learn about and understand the terrible past of this country, but in no way should any city or state glorify it. If these statues should exist anywhere, they should exist in museums. And if nothing else, yesterday’s events prove just what powerful symbols these statues can be to white supremacists, racists, Neo-Nazis, and Nazis.
Three people died Saturday, including 32-year-old Heather Heyer who was hit by a car that plowed into a group of counter-demonstrators, and two state police officers, Pilot Lt. H. Jay Cullen and Trooper-Pilot Berke M.M. Bates, in a helicopter crash. The President has not declared this an act of terrorism. But many people can see it for what is was. If you would like to donate to help pay for the medical expenses of the victims of the terrorist attack, there is a GoFundMe page set up.
