Robert E. Lee Statue Removed in Richmond, VA
A momentous event took place in Richmond, VA on Wednesday when a massive statue of Robert E. Lee was removed after 131 years. This was the final step in dismantling the Confederate statues along Richmond’s famous Monument Avenue. Other statues were removed last year after protests following the murder of George Floyd. Those statues came down first, because of action taken by the Richmond City Council that had jurisdiction over the statues erected on city owned land. The Lee statue stood on land owned by the state and was the subject of lawsuits seeking to keep the statue in place. One of those suits cited the deeds that donated the property to the state and required that the Lee monument be held “perpetually sacred” by the state. The Virginia Supreme Court ruled against all suits to prevent the removal of the monument. In reflecting on the language of that particular lawsuit, it struck me that the original deeds dared to use the words “perpetually sacred” to describe a monument that honored a general of a self-proclaimed Confederacy that fought to continue the brutal and dehumanizing system of chattel slavery. The vast majority of white Christians and churches failed to stand up against such blasphemous language and practices of racial injustice that characterized much of our nation’s history. Thankfully the Virginia Supreme Court denounced that concept of what is “sacred.” For those of us who claim to follow God as revealed in the Bible, the true meaning of “perpetually sacred” refers to the core identity of every person as made in the image of God (Genesis 1: 26-27). Anything that denies or diminishes this core identity can never be “sacred.” While we celebrate the removal of Confederate statues from community spaces, the work of recognizing and promoting the sacred worth of every person continues. Racial inequities in education, housing, healthcare, and the justice system are more pervasive and challenging to resolve than removing Confederate statues. May we rededicate ourselves to claiming and working for that which is truly “perpetually sacred.”
The short video posted below provides some context for the removal of Confederate statues including the Lee statue in Richmond.