In the summer of 2020, protesters tore down the statue of Confederate General Albert Pike in Judiciary Square — a monument many saw not as history, but as a symbol of oppression. That statue, like others honoring the Confederacy, stood for generations despite decades of protest, including calls for removal by the D.C. Council as early as 1992.

Now, under the Trump administration’s new executive order, that same statue — and another Confederate monument at Arlington National Cemetery — are set to be restored and reinstalled. This move comes despite a 2022 bipartisan commission’s recommendation that such memorials be permanently removed from federal property.

The Pike statue isn’t just any monument. Erected with congressional permission in 1901, it features a Confederate military leader known more for his role in the Freemasons than the battlefield — yet its symbolism is clear. One section of the Arlington statue, soon to be returned, includes the figure of a “Mammy” holding a white officer’s child and an enslaved man following his owner into war. These images glorify a false and harmful narrative of the Confederacy as benign or honorable.

Confederate leaders led a war to defend slavery. Their monuments do not belong in public parks or cemeteries meant to honor all Americans — especially not in the nation’s capital.

We don’t erase history by removing statues. We move them to museums, where context and education belong. Restoring these monuments sends a message that racial justice and historical truth are optional. They’re not.

Join Rep. Eleanor Holmes Norton, local leaders, and thousands of D.C. residents in demanding the National Park Service and Department of Defense stop the reinstallation of Confederate statues in Washington, D.C. These monuments honor a legacy of slavery, not reconciliation. They don’t represent who we are — or who we want to be.

Add your name if you believe public spaces should reflect justice, not glorify oppression.