Posted on June 4, 2020

All the Monuments to Racism That Have Been Torched, Occupied, or Removed

Camille Squires, Mother Jones, June 3, 2020

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The Daughters of the Confederacy building (Richmond, Virginia)

{snip} The Richmond headquarters of the organization was set on fire during protests early Sunday. It was later put out by firefighters.

It appears, however, that some Stonewall Jackson memorabilia inside the building was destroyed before firefighters could get to it. {snip}

Statues along Monument Avenue (Richmond, Virginia)

Richmond’s Monument Avenue, built explicitly to honor Confederate soldiers at the turn of the 20th century, has frequently been a flashpoint in the nationwide debate about the removal of Confederate symbols. Over the weekend, the statues of Confederate idols Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, Jefferson Davis, and others were tagged with such phrases as “No More White Supremacy” and “Blood on Your Hands.” In demonstrations Monday, protesters attempted to pull some statues down, according to police. {snip}

Appomattox Confederate Statue (Alexandria, Virginia)

The government of Alexandria had been planning to move this statue of a southern-facing Confederate soldier for some time now. But apparently the good ol’ gals of the Daughters of the Confederacy who own the statue decided to speed things along and preemptively had it removed on Tuesday.

Confederate Defenders Monument (Charleston, South Carolina)

{snip} On Sunday protesters crossed out the word “courage” with spray paint and replaced it with “traitors.” The statue has since been covered up.

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Confederate statue at Ole Miss (Oxford, Mississippi)

{snip} It’s long been decried as a racist symbol by some Ole Miss students, and in March 2019 the student government voted unanimously to have it removed. But in January of this year, the university’s governing board delayed a vote on whether to move it. Over the weekend a man tagged the statue with the words “spiritual genocide.” {snip}

Statue of Frank Rizzo (Philadelphia)

Philadelphia officials on Wednesday removed the statue of former Mayor Frank Rizzo that had previously stood in front of the city municipal building. {snip} Rizzo was an avatar of white reaction, first as a “tough on crime” police commissioner from 1968–71 and then as mayor from 1972–80. {snip}

Market House building (Fayetteville, North Carolina)

Today Fayetteville’s Market House is mainly a historical landmark and tourist attraction, but as its name suggests, it was previously a commercial center and site where slave auctions were held. It was burned in protests Saturday, but by Sunday people had come to clean it up.

State Capitol Confederate monument (Raleigh, North Carolina)

Raleigh, North Carolina, a capital city in the United States of America, has sitting in front of its state government building a monument to the soldiers of the Confederate States of America. {snip} This monument was spraypainted by protesters over the weekend, presumably violating the 2015 state law that prevents such monuments from being removed, destroyed, or altered.

Statue of Charles Linn (Birmingham, Alabama)

Demonstrators took down a bronze statue of Charles Linn, erected in the center of an eponymous park in honor of a sea captain who volunteered to help the Confederacy in the Civil War. They also attempted to bring down a nearby obelisk monument to Confederate soldiers and sailors until Birmingham Mayor Jermaine Johnson deterred them, saying “allow me to finish the job for you.” Johnson promised that the statue would be removed by Tuesday at noon, and by Monday night it was gone.

Original Article