In his press release today Charlottesville mayor Mike Signer called on the Governor to allow a special session for the expedited removal of the Robert E. Lee statue from Emancipation Park.
“With the terrorist attack, these monuments were transformed from equestrian statues into lightning rods. We can, and we must, respond by denying the Nazis and the KKK and the so-called alt-right the twisted totem they seek. And so for the sake of public safety, public reassurance, to magnify Heather’s voice, and to repudiate the pure evil that visited us here, I am calling today for the removal of these Confederate statues from downtown Charlottesville.
Today, I applaud Governor McAuliffe’s call for legislative action and request that the Governor and the General Assembly come together in a special session so the legislature can swiftly act to enable localities to determine the fate of monuments like the Lee statue. Whether they go to museums, cemeteries, or other willing institutions, it is clear that they no longer can be celebrated in shared civic areas, like Charlottesville’s Downtown Mall. These steps would allow Charlottesville City Council’s decision earlier this year to move and sell the Lee statue to happen as soon as possible.”
Mayor Signer also called for a re-examining of open carry laws following the August 12th events,
“I will work with my colleagues on Council and our staff to launch a comprehensive review of our permitting process to give the City the maximum ability to prioritize public safety in such situations, including by limiting the size of events and by exploring updating the current legal “credible threat of violence” standard with a new approach that can address the threat of the intentional creation of mayhem before it happens—particularly when it’s fomented through social media and shadow networks.”
Lastly, Signer called for an effort to memorialize Heather Heyer, who he called,
“a martyr in what Senator John McCain recently described as the battle here between our better angels and our worst demons.”
Signer stated,
“I will propose to my colleagues on City Council and tostakeholders in our community that we take concrete steps to memorialize Heather’s name and legacy. Many good options may surface from our creative and loving community, and we should consider them all seriously, including whether Emancipation Park could include Heather’s memory in some fashion.”
His full statement can be found on The Atlantic.
Complete stupidity! The Civil Was was not mainstream antislavery! The war was brought about by the states inability to succeed from the union! Even Lincoln was against signing the proclamiainmation to end slavery…however it did happen!
Too many people in this time actually think the wCivil War was about Slavery! These are the people who never learned true history! And instead of the leaders telling the truth they are worried about their own arse at election time! When people fear the government it is time to replace it! (Quote from history: Thomas Jefferson)
Yeah true. The Civil War was not JUST about slavery, But it did play a heavy hand in it when it came to the states individual rights to keep slaves, which brought upon the desire for succession. Lincoln wasn’t against freeing slaves, he just didn’t believe they belonged here after freed and should be relocated. Now to the point at hand. People will find ways to construe and inflate any symbol they see fit to convey their beliefs. This is purely hypothetical, but what if these folk decided they were going to use, lets say, the Lincoln memorial to depict their belief that everyone but white Americans should be removed from the country, and decided to gather around it in masses in an attempt to push those beliefs. And in the midst of that things became racially violent. Should we then remove the Lincoln memorial to avoid further gatherings of the sort and steer others away from joining that cause? What about any monument depicting religious beliefs or rights movements that can be misconstrued into depicting their views to further their own agendas and become symbols to validate their hatred filled perspectives. Point being if someone is filled with hatred for another, they can and will use anything and everything available in order to validate and aide in distributing that hatred to as many people as they can in attempts to spread their own brand of hatred. And if there are no such things available, then they will simply create it themselves, because being hateful on ones own accomplishes nothing other than displaying ones own ignorance.
Robert E. Lee whether viewed as great man by some or a despicable man by others, was still an intricate part of that war, and removing his monument does little more than make an attempt to forget his contribution to his side. But leaving it allows for it to be a steadfast reminder that men of his caliber did exist. And the views that he represented did and in some cases still exist, and to try and hide that fact only allows for them to resurface in possibly greater numbers as more “forget” what those views brought upon us.