Confederate statues Archives - The Virginia Star

Virginia House District 75 Profile: Otto Wachsmann Challenges Senior Delegate Roslyn Tyler

October 8, 2021October 8, 2021 Eric Burk

Virginia House of Delegates District 75 is one of the best chances for Republicans to flip a House seat. Delegate Roslyn Tyler (D-Sussex) is a 15-year incumbent, but she faces a repeat challenge from pharmacist Otto Wachsmann, Jr. who nearly beat her in 2019 with 48.89 percent of the vote. The district has been bleeding population in recent years, and the victory will likely depend on whether Roslyn Tyler can mobilize the significant minority presence and overcome dissatisfaction with the local economy. Republicans need to gain six seats in the House to retake the majority. Without Trump on the ballot, Republicans are hoping moderates are more likely to vote Republican, helping them flip some seats.

“If you had to ask me what is the most likely district in the House to flip to Republicans, I would say that one. I still say it’s a toss-up,” CNalysis Director Chaz Nuttycombe told The Virginia Star.

Virginia Military Institute Hires First Black Interim Superintendent After Northam Pays $1 Million to Investigate Systemic Racism

November 15, 2020November 14, 2020 Corinne Murdock

The Virginia Military Institute (VMI) hired its first Black superintendent shortly after Governor Ralph Northam allotted $1 million to investigate allegations of systemic racism there. VMI announced the appointment of retired U.S. Army Major General Cedric T. Wins on Friday.

Wins will serve as the interim superintendent at VMI – he is also a 1985 graduate. In his remarks on accepting the interim position with VMI, Wins only had positive words for the institution’s history.

Busted: Judge Rules Virginia House Speaker Filler-Corn Violated the Freedom of Information Act

October 10, 2020October 10, 2020 Corinne Murdock

Richmond General District Court found Virginia House of Delegates Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) guilty of violating the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) on Friday. Filler-Corn must pay a civil penalty of $500 and a partial reimbursement of attorney fees.
The filing attorney, Timothy Anderson, told The Virginia Star that this court ruling was a big win for Virginians. Anderson also shared that the judge had expressed doubt during the trial that Filler-Corn didn’t know about the documents.

In the Dead of Night, House Speaker Filler-Corn Removed Confederate Statues for $83K – and Lied About the Documents, Lawsuit Claims

October 8, 2020October 8, 2020 Corinne Murdock

Virginia House Speaker Eileen Filler-Corn (D-Fairfax) faces a lawsuit for falsely denying the existence of records documenting the $83,000 removal of the Capitol’s Confederate monuments.

The plaintiff in the case, David Webster II, requested documents under the Virginia Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) from Filler-Corn upon learning she’d removed the Confederate statues and busts. In her response, Filler-Corn states repeatedly “The requested records do not exist.” However, Webster II discovered many of the documents in question.

Charlottesville City Council Moves Forward with Relocating ‘Disrespectful’ Lewis & Clark and Sacagawea Statue

October 3, 2020October 2, 2020 Corinne Murdock

The Charlottesville City Council convened on Wednesday to continue discussing plans for relocating the Lewis & Clark and Sacagawea statue.
Activists take issue with Sacagawea’s posture: she crouches behind Meriwether Lewis and William Clark, a positioning some say is demeaning for depicting the appearance of subservience.

Bipartisan Vote in the House Rules to Remove Confederate Statues from the Capitol

July 25, 2020July 24, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

A bill to remove statues of Confederate leaders and figures who advocated for white supremacy from the Capitol passed the House on a bipartisan vote Wednesday, the New York Times reported.

The House voted 305 to 113 to remove the statues as part of a broad effort to take symbols of racism out of public spaces, the Times reported. The legislation was introduced by House Majority Leader and Democratic Maryland Rep. Steny H. Hoyer.

Virginia Evicts Confederate Monuments from Its State Capitol

July 25, 2020October 7, 2020 The Associated Press

Virginia has removed from its iconic state capitol the busts and a statue honoring Confederate generals and officials. That includes a bronze statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee positioned in the same spot where he stood to assume command of the state’s armed forces in the Civil War nearly 160 years ago.

They are the latest Confederate symbols to be removed or retired in the weeks since the death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police sparked a nationwide protest movement.

Over Half of Americans Oppose Removing Confederate Statues, WaPo Poll Finds

July 22, 2020July 21, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

More than 50% of Americans oppose removing public statues dedicated to Confederate generals, according to a Washington Post/ABC poll published Monday.

The poll showed 80% of Republicans and 56% of independents oppose removing such monuments, while 74% of Democrats support ridding the country of statues commemorating the Confederacy. Nearly 60% of white people oppose their removal, as do about half of Hispanic people, the poll found.

Vandalizing American History: A List of 64 Toppled, Defaced, or Removed Statues

July 19, 2020July 18, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

The list of American statues and other monuments that have been toppled, decapitated, defaced, or removed since the May 25 killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis grew longer almost daily through June and into July.

A mob cheered as it pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus in Saint Paul, Minnesota. In Washington, D.C., rioters used ropes to tear down a bronze depiction of Albert Pike, a Confederate general, and then set the 11-foot statue on fire.

Judge Blocks Removal of More Confederate Statues in Richmond

July 11, 2020July 10, 2020 The Associated Press

A judge issued an injunction Thursday barring the city of Richmond from removing any more Confederate monuments, a process that began last week after Mayor Levar Stoney ordered the statues cleared away amid weeks of protests over police brutality and racism.

Richmond Circuit Court Judge Bradley Cavedo issued the decision after a hearing in a lawsuit filed Tuesday by an unnamed plaintiff, local media outlets reported. The lawsuit asked for an emergency injunction to halt the removal of the statues and alleged that Stoney violated state law by ordering their immediate removal.

House Democrats’ Funding Bill Includes Provision to Remove Confederate Statues

July 8, 2020July 7, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

Confederate statues would be removed from the Capitol under a provision included in the Democrat House Appropriations Committee’s 2021 draft budget bill released Monday.

The nearly $4.2 billion funding proposal would mandate the removal of monuments to Confederate generals and would also call into question those statues of people who have “unambiguous records of racial intolerance,” according to a press release from the Appropriations Committee.

Richmond Removes Statue of Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart

July 8, 2020July 7, 2020 The Associated Press

Work crews on Tuesday took down a monument to Confederate Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, the third major statue to be cleared away in less than a week as the Confederacy’s former capital rushes to remove symbols of oppression in response to protests against police brutality and racism.

As a crowd cheered, crews strapped the huge bronze equestrian statue in harnesses and used a crane to lift it from its granite base to be trucked away. Some in the crowd chanted “Black Lives Matter” after the statue was removed. One person sang, “Na na na na, na na na na, hey hey, goodbye.”

Stonewall Jackson Removed from Richmond’s Monument Avenue

July 2, 2020July 1, 2020 The Associated Press

Work crews wielding a giant crane, harnesses and power tools wrested an imposing statue of Gen. Stonewall Jackson from its concrete pedestal along Richmond, Virginia’s famed Monument Avenue on Wednesday, just hours after the mayor ordered the removal of all Confederate statues from city land.

Mayor Levar Stoney’s decree came weeks after Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam ordered the removal of the most prominent and imposing statue along the avenue: that of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, which sits on state land. The removal of the Lee statue has been stalled pending the resolution of several lawsuits.

Injunction Extended Against Removing Lee Statue in Virginia

June 19, 2020June 18, 2020 The Associated Press

A judge on Thursday indefinitely extended an injunction preventing the Virginia governor from removing a historic statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from a famed avenue in the former capital of the Confederacy.

Richmond Circuit Court Judge Bradley Cavedo made the decision after hearing from attorneys for the state and for the plaintiff in a lawsuit against Gov. Ralph Northam. Earlier this month, Cavedo had issued a 10-day injunction barring Northam from removing the bronze equestrian statue of the Confederate hero from Monument Avenue.

Poll: Young, College-Educated Americans Most Likely to Favor Removing Confederate Statues

June 15, 2020June 14, 2020 Virginia Star Staff

As confederate statues nationwide are being vandalized and toppled, while other are being peaceably removed, a new poll shows young, college-educated Americans are the most likely age demographic to agree that these monuments no longer have a place in society.

The National Tracking Poll by Morning Consult and Politico, conducted June 6-7, found that 43 percent of Americans between the ages of 18-34 believe that statues of confederate leaders should be taken down, while 26 percent think they should remain standing. The other 31 percent did not know or had no opinion on the statues.

Alabama City Removes Confederate Statue Without Notice

June 5, 2020November 9, 2020 The Associated Press

Alabama’s port city removed a statue of a Confederate naval officer early Friday after days of protests over the police killing of George Floyd, with the mayor saying the monument was a “potential distraction” to focusing on the city’s future.

Carol Swain Commentary: The Destruction of Silent Sam

August 28, 2018August 27, 2018 Star News Staff

by Carol M. Swain American philosopher George Santayana once said, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” Those words are worth remembering. As a 1989 alumna of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, I am appalled how, on August 20, 2018, law-enforcement officers stood down while anarchists,…

Richmond’s Jefferson Davis Statue Might Be Next On The Chopping Block

July 3, 2018July 2, 2018 Admin

Jefferson Davis statue, Richmond, Virginia

by Rob Shimshock A commission recommended Monday that Richmond, Va., remove its statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis. The Davis statue is one of five Confederate monuments lining Monument Avenue in the city, reported The Guardian. The commission, appointed by Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney, said that the Davis monument “is…

GOP Gubernatorial Candidate Randy Boyd Agrees With Democrats Dean and Fitzhugh: Removal of Confederate Statues by City of Memphis Was Legal

June 20, 2018June 20, 2018 Lynn Moss

Randy Boyd, Beth harwell, Karl Dean, Craig Fitzhugh

Republican gubernatorial candidate Randy Boyd declared on Thursday that the removal of two Confederate statues by the City of Memphis in December using a questionable ruse to sidestep state law was legal, agreeing on that issue with Democratic gubernatorial candidates Karl Dean and Craig Fitzhugh. Boyd’s remarks came at a…