Stonewall Jackson statue being removed in Richmond VA

[Yonnie3]

I'm seeing reports on Twitter that the Stonewall Jackson statue is being taken down as I type this. The statue is at the intersection of Monument Avenue and Arthur Ashe Blvd.

Here is a Twitter thread about this,

Link to tweet

Link to tweet

Live Stream

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[2naSalit]

1. Yay!!

[Voltaire2]

2. Another Traitor Toppled.

[Backseat Driver]

3. I've seen that monument--and quite a magestic sight it was.

Where will it go when gone? Almost lived in Richmond, VA. DH once had a corporate IT job offer on the table with Overnight Trucking that was weirdly withdrawn. Might have been a blessing in disguise in the long run but, at the time so long ago...well, I was not yet awakened from the mythology of learned US history and my FOO's covert cover of faults and still "somewhat" (I'm guessing that's like being a little bit pregnant, now?&quot complicit in my "privileged" status. A few years later, I ended up living and loving for 20 years, the "wrong" side of polarized Dayton, OH, where I got a real education that I felt in my heart. LOL!

[Yonnie3]

5. It's going to be stored temporarily

Its ultimate fate is unknown.

I was indoctrinated in the late 50s and early 60s as to these "proud, noble and honorable men of the South." Fortunately my parents were from NY and NJ and I was given an alternate viewpoint.

[underpants]

4. Never thought I'd see this.

[Yonnie3]

6. You and me both n/t

[underpants]

7. Seems like a lot of people knew about it

Quite the crowd.

[Yonnie3]

8. Social media went abuzz

The police (sheriffs actually) escorted the equipment in with sirens blazing, attracting attention.

There was a protest that shutdown the John Marshall Courthouse that was to begin processing evictions today. Some of those folks are now watching the statue come down. It's about an hour to walk it.

[underpants]

11. I used to live a few blocks from there.

I would be there but I’m hosting a Zoom meeting for work. Ugh.

[Yonnie3]

12. I often stayed near there as well in the mid 70s

It was a couple of blocks off of the Boulevard on Floyd if I recall correctly.

[soothsayer]

9. Richmond's Confederate Monuments Were Used to Sell a Segregated Neighborhood

https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/archive/2020/06/its-not-just-the-monuments/612940/

It’s a good read.

Snip

Throughout the development of the neighborhood, real-estate companies used the monuments to entice buyers. In 1913, the Greater Richmond Realty Company took out an ad in the Richmond Times-Dispatch that included an illustration of the proposed Jackson monument under the headline: “Stuart, Lee, Davis, Have Already Been Honored. No Longer Neglect Jackson.” The depiction of the intersection along with a tree-lined field in the background made it easier for potential buyers to envision their home overlooking the Confederate general. The ad implied that Jackson would not be fully honored until all the lots were claimed and occupied.

Real-estate companies also reassured potential buyers through restrictive covenants that “no lots can ever be sold or rented in MONUMENT AVENUE PARK to any person of African descent.” This was a reassuring message for white Richmonders during a time of unrest and uncertainty. Business and civic leaders worried about labor activism among the city’s black tobacco workers and elsewhere during this period of industrial expansion. Many still recalled with horror the brief but consequential period from 1879 to 1883, in which a biracial party known as the Readjusters controlled the wheels of government throughout the city and state. Large numbers of black Virginians voted, attended public schools, and were elected to local and state positions, all under the leadership of the former Confederate general William Mahone.

[Yonnie3]

10. Yes it is an enlightening read.

[Yonnie3]

13. A man with a Trump flag arrived.

A man with a Trump flag arrived. Sherriff's Deputies removed him while he was crying. Faces of protesters redacted.

Link to tweet

[mahatmakanejeeves]

14. Onlookers still gathered despite the the torrential downpour.

There's some serious neglect of worker safety going on here. They're out there in a storm with this crane and big metal object held aloft. They should have called the work off until the storm was gone.

Richmond’s monument to Stonewall Jackson, hoisted from its pedestal moments ago, is about to be lifted by forklift on to a flatbed and taken to storage. Onlookers still gathered despite the the torrential downpour.

Link to tweet

BREAKING:

Link to tweet

[Dave in VA]

15. Another Particapation Trophy

goes in the trash!

Glad that I have lived long enough to see these monuments to failure taken down.