A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, of Virginia, stands in the Crypt on Capitol Hill. | Susan Walsh/AP PhotoThe statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee inside the U.S. Capitol was removed from the building’s crypt Monday morning and will be relocated to the Virginia Museum of History & Culture.
A commission established earlier this year by the Virginia General Assembly recommended last week that a statue of civil rights leader Barbara Johns replace that of Lee as one of the two figures representing the Commonwealth in the Capitol. The selection of Johns must be approved by the General Assembly in the upcoming legislative session.
“The Robert E. Lee statue honors a legacy of division, oppression, and racism — a dark period in the history of our Commonwealth and our country,” they said. “There is no reason his statue should be one of the two representing Virginia in the U.S. Capitol.” In June, amid nationwide protests against racial injustice and police brutality, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called for the removal of 11 statues depicting Confederate leaders that were located in the Capitol’s Statuary Hall.