Charlottesville: Confederate general Robert E Lee's descendants condemn white supremacists

Descendants of confederate leader Robert E Lee have denounced the white nationalist groups involved in the deadly violence in Charlottesville last weekend that left three dead.

Great-great grandson Robert E Lee V and great-great granddaughter Tracy Lee Crittenberger condemned the “hateful words and violent actions of white supremacists, the KKK or neo-Nazis" and said their ancestor would not have supported their cause.

It comes after white nationalist groups descended on the small town to protest the removal of a statue of the general in Lee Park, in the biggest rally of its kind for at least a decade.

"Our family extends our deepest condolences to the families who lost a loved one. We send our heartfelt sympathy to those who were injured, and pray for their recovery," they said in a statement.

"General Lee's life was about duty, honour and country. At the end of the Civil War, he implored the nation to come together to heal our wounds and to move forward to become a more unified nation. He never would have tolerated the hateful words and violent actions of white supremacists, the KKK, or Neo Nazis."

They called for the statue at the centre of the Virginia protests to be memorialised in an appropriate context.

"I think that is absolutely an option, to move it to a museum and put it in the proper historical context," Mr Lee V told Newsweek.

"Times were very different then. We look at the institution of slavery, and it's absolutely horrendous. Back then, times were just extremely different.

"We understand that it's complicated in 2017, when you look back at that period of time...If you want to put statues of General Lee or other Confederate people in museums, that makes good sense."

However US President Donald Trump said the removal of statues of confederate generals makes him “sad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart”.

He also tweeted “you can't change history, but you can learn from it,” appearing to imply that keeping the statues up would be a reminder of the country's Civil War bloodshed and the scourge of slavery.

Mr Trump has given several statements on the events and doubled-down on his initial comments that “many sides” were responsible for the violence in Charlottesville, not just neo-Nazis and white supremacists.