RICHMOND, Va. (NBC) — The governor of Virginia is seeking a bill to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in the U.S. Capitol Building.
According to a spokesperson, Gov. Ralph Northam filed a drafting request for a bill that would outline the process for removing the statue and selecting a replacement.
This comes after state representatives Jennifer Wexton and Donald McEachin sent a letter calling on Northam to make replacing the statue part of his agenda for the 2020 legislative session.
In the letter, they argue that the statue aims to “rewrite Lee’s reputation from that of a cruel slave owner and Confederate general.”
They say there are “countless commendable Virginians who would better represent” the commonwealth.
The Lee statue is one of Virginia’s two in the National Statuary Hall Collection.
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Starting with Northam’s Lt. Governor!
Oh GOOD GRIEF !! I guess some of our legislators can’t come up with any positive use of their time, so they just come up with emotional negative ones. Are they still blaming their parents for their ideas too ?
I hope it’s obvious I disagree with them. I’m a yankee and have more “historical reasons” to dislike Gen. Robert E. Lee than a “Virginian”, but I don’t .
The man was of incredible family history that helped form this country, was 2nd in his class at West Point, and was a tremendous leader for the Confederate States. If Northam had any idea what honor is, he would have spit this proposed legislation back at these 2 fools.
“Those of us who refuse to learn from our history are doomed to repeat it” is the basis for my opinion.
However, I am willing to compromise with R. Northam, J. Wexton and D. McEachin. If they are all willing to undergo electric shock treatment to remove all of the negative memories in their lives then I will be willing to agree to remove the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee.
The better idea though I believe would be that we should all petition R. Northam to hire Turner Sculpture to work up a bronze one for Richmond.