The city of Charlottesville has covered two controversial statues following violent protests earlier this month. Sandy Hausman reports on why they’re now draped in black.
It took eight men with ropes, a truck and a cherry picker to lift and drop black tarps over 28-foot statues of Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson on horseback. The gesture was intended as a memorial for those who died during protests August 12th, but Vice Mayor Wes Bellamy – surrounded by thousands of cicadas -- said he hoped it would also signal a new era for Charlottesville.
“If we’re going to create equitable spaces for all people, then we have to empathize and look at the feelings of everyone within this city,” he told reporters.
The city’s mayor had described the statues as lightning rods, but fewer than fifty people – including reporters – turned out to watch, and reaction was decidedly low key with no cheering or applause.
“It’s a little ironic – well let’s cover it like we’ve been doing with all of our problems," said resident Lisa King, "but then there’s also the other part of me that says with what happened the other Saturday, there are real issues that need to be addressed.”
“I think it is stupid," said another resident who declined to give his name. "They represent the people who died in the South during the Civil War.”
But Flip Bowry saw a middle ground for this and the statue of Robert E. Lee. “I love Southern history," he said, "but put them in a museum.”
Charlottesville’s city council had voted to remove the statues, but opponents have challenged that decision in court.
For 73-year-old William White, who’s lived most of his life in Charlottesville, all the controversy is a puzzle. Admitting he didn’t care much one way or the other, White expressed his hope that people could just “get together and be happy.”
Thursday night, August 24th, at 6 p.m. the city hopes to move its residents in that direction with a mass meeting at Charlottesville High School – to promote dialogue and begin healing from the trauma this community has suffered through a long, hot summer.
