General Lee Statue in Charlottesville to Be Melted Down

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By Maximillian Boudreaux Published: December 8, 2021

General Lee Statue in Charlottesville to Be Melted Down

FILE - This Tuesday June 27, 2017 file photo shows the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that stands in the middle of a traffic circle on Monument Avenue in Richmond, Va. Many of the Confederate monuments scattered around the state could soon be coming down after new legislation passed the Virginia legislature. (AP Photo/Steve Helber)

In Summary

Charlottesville City Council approved to donate the recently removed symbol of racism to Jefferson School African American Heritage Center.

The Confederate statue of Robert E. Lee is expected to be melted down and transform into a work of public art by a Black-led non-profit, Associated Press reported.

The Lee statue, as well as a statue of Confederate Genral Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson, were taken down on the same day in July.

Charlottesville City Council approved to donate the recently removed symbol of racism to Jefferson School African American Heritage Center.

Jefferson School African American Heritage Center presented a “Swords into Plowshares” proposal that received close to 30 letters of support from individuals and organizations that included the Descendants of Enslaved Communities at the University of Virginia and descendants of Monticello’s enslaved community.

“Our hope with ‘Swords into Plowshares’ is to create something that transforms what was once toxic in our public space into something beautiful that can be more reflective of our entire community’s social values,” said the center’s executive director, Andrea Douglas. “We’re giving people opportunities to engage with our own narratives and our own histories. This project offers a road map for other communities to do the same.”

This Black-led nonprofit claimed in a news release that the “community engagement process” will benefit the public art project, which has already raised $590,000 in funding.

The city council made their decision on Tuesday morning of what should happen to the Lee statue, Associated Press reported. General Lee’s statue was finally removed this summer, five years after activists had made a new pact to take it down while receiving opposition from racist groups that led the deadly 2017 rally in Charlottesville. The Lee and Jackson statues were eventually approved to be removed by the city. Virginia’s highest court ruled.

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