Source: Politics<\/p>\n
RICHMOND, Va. \u2014 Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam announced Sunday that his administration will remove an enormous pedestal that until earlier this year held a statue of<\/a> Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee in Richmond.<\/p>\n The announcement marks a reversal in course from September, when the statue was removed but the Democratic governor said the 40-foot-tall (12-meter-tall) pedestal, currently covered in graffiti, would stay.<\/p>\n His administration also announced plans to transfer ownership of the grassy island in the middle of a traffic circle where the statue was located to the city of Richmond. The move comes about a month before Northam leaves office and Republican Gov.-elect Glenn Youngkin, who has expressed less enthusiasm about the statue\u2019s removal, is sworn in.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was important to us that we do it now and before we leave office,\u201d said Alena Yarmosky, Northam\u2019s spokeswoman.<\/p>\n The deeding of the land, which was given to the commonwealth in the 19th century, was a request from the city so that the parcel could come under local control, Yarmosky said. State ownership has created logistical headaches with maintenance and security, she said.<\/p>\n Preliminary work on the pedestal removal was expected to begin Monday, with the project expected to be \u201csubstantially complete\u201d by Dec. 31, according to a news release.<\/p>\n The Lee statue, a one-of-a-kind bronze equestrian piece installed in 1890, was perched in the middle of the traffic circle, part of a collection of other Confederate statuary along Richmond\u2019s historic Monument Avenue. The statue, which had drawn criticism as a symbol of racial injustice, was hauled away in September to cheers from onlookers.<\/p>\n Northam ordered its removal in the summer of 2020 amid the nationwide protest movement that erupted after the murder of George Floyd by a police officer in Minneapolis. Bu t litigation tied up his <\/a>plans until this year.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2020, we can no longer honor a system that was based on the buying and selling of enslaved people,\u201d he said when announcing his decision to remove the statue.<\/p>\n The day it was hauled away, he said, marked \u201ca new day, a new era in Virginia.\u201d<\/p>\n In September, when The Washington Post pressed a Youngkin campaign spokesman for the then-candidate\u2019s position on the removal, the spokesperson said Youngkin agreed with the decision. Youngkin has said the statue belongs in a museum or on a battlefield, as an opportunity to teach about history, and he has criticized the \u201cgraffiti and violence\u201d that went along with many protests over Confederate monuments.<\/p>\n The Lee statue was one of five enormous Confederate tributes along Richmond\u2019s Monument Avenue and the only one that belonged to the state. The four city-owned statues were also removed<\/a> following Floyd\u2019s killing after they became focal points in protests.<\/a><\/p>\n In September, Northam said the pedestal would remain in place so its future could be determined by a community-driven effort to reimagine Monument Avenue, an initiative being led by an arts museum and currently in a very early stage.<\/p>\n \u201cThis land is in the middle of Richmond, and Richmonders will determine the future of this space,\u201d Northam said in a statement Sunday. \u201cThe Commonwealth will remove the pedestal and we anticipate a safe removal and a successful conclusion to this project.\u201d<\/p>\n The governor\u2019s administration searched unsuccessfully <\/a>in September for a time capsule that was thought to be tucked underneath the pedestal and even installed a new one. If the 1887 time capsule is recovered during the disassembly process, the state will take it into possession, the news release said, and attempt to preserve its contents.<\/p>\n The pedestal parts will be stored until next steps are determined, according to the news release.<\/p>\n The pedestal has been covered in graffiti, some of it profane and much of it denouncing the police. It has drawn some acclaim as a work of protest art, and some community members have advocated that it should remain. After Floyd\u2019s death, the traffic circle became a gathering spot for activists, who informally renamed it in honor of Marcus-David Peters, a y<\/a> oung Black man who was killed by a police officer during a mental health crisis after he threatened the officer.<\/p>\n