eye on the news
Richmond’s Rage of the Woke The city’s iconoclastic frenzy, supported by local leaders, has left a historic avenue with stumps and graffiti.
The Social Order
Arts and Culture
Beautifully landscaped with ample medians and harmoniously lined with gracious houses in various historic styles, Richmond, Virginia’s block-paved Monument Avenue and its several statuary tributes to Confederate leaders were once recognized as a triumph of American urban design. The residential frontages served admirably as a variegated frame for the monuments, creating a superb urban tableau that it made no sense to eradicate especially as the monuments lost ideological currency with the passage of time, as monuments often do.
Fence surrounds Lee statue ahead of potential removal
Katharine DeRosa,
News Editor
The Virginia Department of General Services erected a fence around Marcus-David Peters Circle on Monday in preparation for the removal of the Robert E. Lee statue.
The department stated the fencing is not intended to be permanent.
“As we await the resolution of legal challenges that have delayed the statue’s removal, DGS wants to be prepared to act quickly upon a final determination,” said Dena Potter, the department’s communications director, in an email.
The area was reclaimed this summer by protesters and became a space for demonstrations, charity and community activities such as basketball and art.
State Puts Up Fencing Around Richmond’s Lee Monument
The Robert E. Lee monument now stands behind fencing as state officials prepare to remove statue, though it s unclear when that may happen. (Photo: Crixell Matthews/VPM News)
State officials erected fencing around Richmond’s Robert E. Lee monument today, in preparation to remove the statue. The area now enclosed was dubbed Marcus-David Peters Circle by racial justice protesters this summer.
The traffic circle around Lee has been a site of protest since last summer, when thousands took to the streets of Richmond following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. The New York Times recently ranked the Lee statue, transformed by spray-painted messages, as the No. 1 piece of American protest art since World War II.