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The Removal of The Robert E. Lee Statue in Charlottesville, Virginia.

SCOM 248
Dr. Hobson
Grayson Phillips, Mason Janney, Wyant Wharton
December 12, 2019
 
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Robert E. Lee

         Confederate General Robert E. Lee once said, “what a cruel thing war is, to fill our hearts
with hatred instead of love for our neighbors.” Now, we realize he is talking about the Civil War
but the hatred from this war still carries on to this day. Ever since they forcibly arrived at this
country, people of color have been discriminated against for hundreds of years. Although many
say General Lee was a great human, the ideology behind his statue is that it stands for the
wrong side of the Civil War. This isn't fair to the ‘neighbors’ and members of the Charlottesville
community to honor a man who stood for the wrong message. That is why in March 2016, Vice
Mayor of Charlottesville’s, Wes Bellamy called on the Charlottesville city council to remove the
statue of General Lee and change the name of the park, Lee Park, where it is displayed. The
Robert E. Lee statue has brought nothing but bitterness and violence to the city of
Charlottesville due to the controversial meanings behind the statue and offending different
cultures throughout America.
  Nothing major happened after Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy stated that he wanted the
statue to be removed, but it was the start to an ugly display of events. Local NAACP head Rick
Turner spoke shortly after Vice Mayor Bellamy in support of the removal, calling Lee a terrorist.
Wes Bellamy initiated a petition for people that were in favor for the removal of the statue. The
petition stated the statue represented “hate” and was a “subliminal message of racism.” Many
people came out and stood up for the removal, but nothing was accomplished until a year later
when Charlottesville's town council who could be seen as an “enforcer” finally decided to
remove the statue. Later that year in June 2017, many different groups led rallies and protests
for the statue and one of the most famous groups to take charge was the Ku Klux Klan.
Approximately 50 Klansmen were met by several hundred counter-protestors. This was a clear
sign of power dynamic during the meeting of the KKK and the counter-protestors in downtown
Charlottesville. The KKK felt that they were superior and all decisions and beliefs made by them
were the right ones, when in fact, that was far from the truth. The police eventually used tear
gas to disperse the crowd and made 23 arrests. The biggest and most controversial protest was
the one that took place on August 12, 2017. Clashes broke out between those in favor of the
statue who were waving confederate flags and chanting “Jews will not replace us”, and the
counter protestors. This protest led to one death and 19 injuries caused by a car ramming
attack.
         It’s pretty clear that this statute has become extremely controversial, especially after
City Council voted 3 to 2 on its removal. Now with savagery and violence being brought to the
community, there was a sense of urgency to get something done. So, on August 20, 2017, the
City Council voted to shroud the statute in black, or covered in a tarp to conceal from view of
the public until the removal was official. That only lasted a couple months until Judge Richard E.
Moore of Charlottesville Circuit Court ruled that the black tarp covering the statute must be
removed. He stated in his ruling that the city didn’t do enough to prove that the coverings
wouldn't be “anything other than permanent.” Many other cities have exercised the removal of
their own Confederate monuments, but in Virginia, there is a state law that protects public war
memorials from being removed or altered. After displaying the reasoning and motives behind
the people of power in Charlottesville on the statue, we decided to get deeper meaning from
interviewing Charlottesville locals. 
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We decided to interview an anonymous person from Charlottesville, thinking this would

be a good route to get direct information about how the statue affects those living around it.
The first person we decided to interview was a female, 22 years old, and an undergraduate
student at the University of Virginia. When first meeting her, we told her the interview was for
a class at JMU, however, we did not tell her the subject was, as to try and not influence her
viewpoint. We followed by asking her how she felt about the Robert E. Lee statue cemented in
her college town. “I guess the whole argument is based on what you think the statue
represents”. So, then we asked her which option she preferred, the removal of the statue, or
the argument to keep the statue up? She then continued by saying, “Well, for starters, it
doesn't bother me too much, however, I don't see it really serving any particular positive
purpose… seeing it doesn’t make people happy, but it has the potential to really upset some
people” (Interviewer). The UVA student made some compelling points. While most people who
support the statue probably don't smile when looking at the statue, rather, they're just trying to
win the argument, instead of arguing facts. While the statue does not affect her everyday life,
or affect her thoughts daily, she did understand the context behind the statue. Her thoughts
came across as though she didn’t have a strong stance on the matter, but rather understood
why the removal was being rallied behind. She also raised the idea from the other point of
view, “I guess you could fight that the statue is a representation of how far we’ve come as a
nation” for those who are not okay with the statue being up. That is a helpful viewpoint to have
since the progress of the removal may take a while, having a more positive outlook might help. 
As a group, we believe that the statue has reached a point in time, like all things in life,
where the symbolic sign should be retired. Robert E. Lee was a confederate war General who
many saw as a leader. Unfortunately for him he was on the wrong side of the argument. Even
more so that argument is still a problem years and years later.  Upon reviewing the different
sides, it is just too difficult to stand up to a war hero who caused so much pain and suffering
during his time, especially as a discriminatory act.
         Overall, the final conclusion to our argument is that the Robert E. Lee statue has
reached its time as a monument and its finally time to remove it. While the statue is a very
important part of America's history, despite what Lee fought for, the connotation behind the
symbolic statue causes to much conflict and arousal out of the Charlottesville community. The
cultures around Charlottesville have been divided over this statue ‘imaginary and emotional’
context which is the image of slavery being fought for by General Lee and other confederates.
For any member of any culture, there should be no such symbol in a community that stands for
that type of past behavior and meaning.

Word Count: 1171

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WORK CITED

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confederate-statue-that-sparked-charlottesville-protest.
 
Wpvi. (2018, August 10). A timeline of the deadly weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia.
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Duggan, P. M. (2019, August 12). Charlottesville's Confederate statues still stand - and
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The history of the statue behind the white supremacist rally in Charlottesville. (2017,
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the-white-supremacist-rally/8803430.
 
Market Street Park. (n.d.). Retrieved December 12, 2019, from
https://www.charlottesville.org/departments-and-services/departments-h-
z/parks-recreation/parks-trails/city-parks/emancipation-park-formerly-known-
as-lee-park.
 
 
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Sant, S. V. (2019, September 14). Judge Blocks Removal Of Confederate Statue That
Sparked Charlottesville Protest. Retrieved December 12, 2019, from
https://www.npr.org/2019/09/14/760876494/judge-blocks-removal-of-
confederate-statue-that-sparked-charlottesville-protest.