As a lover of art and history (the good, the bad, the ugly, the beautiful) I am again saddened by the foolhardy and shortsighted efforts of our leadership to erase all that makes them uncomfortable.  I know people who are Democrats, Independents, and Republicans who are also very alarmed. We only have a few days to make an impact on the Virginia General Assembly regarding the upcoming vote that would further expand this toxic destruction. (dem legislature emails at the bottom).

The Virginia legislature is at it again, trying to force the removal of statues in Capitol Square in Richmond VA.  This continues Richmond’s historical erasure trend started by former Mayor Levar Stoney, who in 2020 removed the Monument Ave statues, despite the fact the city had years of discussions and overwhelmingly wanted to retain the existing statuary while expanding the Avenue’s narrative.  He did this like a thief in the night, with monies that would have been much better spent elsewhere in his struggling city. Additionally the Rumors of War statue (fabricated in China) was erected at the Virginia Museum of Fine Art and now has zero context as to why it exists at all. It cannot be contextualized without the other Monument Avenue statuary. 

The craftsmanship of our beautiful Monument Avenue memorials was unmatched in its artistic superiority and beauty.  They  now sit in body bags at the sewage plant. A lawsuit has been filed to assure they are relocated to proper venues, such as national battlefield parks with the next hearing scheduled for early March.

Regarding the new assault on Capitol Square. One of the men they want to remove with SB removing was not even a general, but a doctor: Dr. Hunter Holmes McGuire.   Civil War doctors on the Confederate side often treated Union soldiers, as medical personnel were classified as non-combatants and it was accepted practice to care for the wounded from both sides.  The battlefield surgical methods he developed over the years have saved thousands of lives. As the National Museum of Civil War Medicine says, “It could be argued that Dr. McGuire revolutionized American battlefield medicine by humanizing the battlefield and giving injured men a better chance to receive the care they needed to survive.”  He also was president of the American Medical Association.  

This is very dystopian, and one only need read (or watch) "The Giver" to see how similar it is to this train of thought, erasure, and virtue signaling. 

The men commemorated in the statues at Capitol Square were not commemorated because they defended slavery, but because they were great generals, doctors, and politicians.

It is foolhardy and ignorant to judge the past through the lens of the present.  And one cannot erase history. In doing so these revisionists erase and demonize the hundreds of thousands of southerners with Confederate war veterans in their ancestry. The vast majority of whom did not own slaves. Though slavery and the economy as such was a large reason for the war, its beginnings had to do with secession and state's rights and federal coercion of the states.  I have read many accounts on both sides and it is often said it was hard to tell who the good guys were, as it was a brutal brutal war.

Also, regarding Capitol Square statues now under threat represent people - like all people with good and bad qualities and inconsistencies and contradictions.  “Why not focus on these people for what they did for our country, for transportation, for education, for training the military? Stonewall Jackson was an educator at VMI. Why not focus on those good things?”  Julie Hardaway.

Besides erasing history and destroying amazing art, this will cost tons of money that could go elsewhere. Please contact the following legislators and let them know you oppose it! 

awade@dls.virginia.gov,
mlamb@dls.virginia.gov,
DelBAnthony@house.virginia.gov,
DelAAskew@house.virginia.gov,
DelEBennett-Parker@house.virginia.gov,
DelDBulova@house.virginia.gov,
Nadarius Clark <DelNClark@house.virginia.gov>,
DelLJCohen@house.virginia.gov,
DelJCole@house.virginia.gov,
DelKConvirs-Fowler@house.virginia.gov,
DelRCousins@house.virginia.gov,
DelKDelaney@house.virginia.gov,
DelMFeggans@house.virginia.gov,
DelDGardner@house.virginia.gov,
DelJGlass@house.virginia.gov,
DelCHayes@house.virginia.gov,
DelDHelmer@house.virginia.gov,
DelRHenson@house.virginia.gov,
DelPHernandez@house.virginia.gov,
DelCHerring@house.virginia.gov,
DelPHope@house.virginia.gov,
DelMJones@house.virginia.gov,
DelKKeys-Gamarra@house.virginia.gov,
DelPKrizek@house.virginia.gov,
DelALaufer@house.virginia.gov,
DelDLeVereBolling@house.virginia.gov,
DelALopez@house.virginia.gov,
DelMMaldonado@house.virginia.gov,
DelMMartinez@house.virginia.gov,
DelAMcClure@house.virginia.gov,
DelDMcQuinn@house.virginia.gov,
DelCMundonKing@house.virginia.gov,
DelMPrice@house.virginia.gov,
DelSRasoul@house.virginia.gov,
DelAReaser@house.virginia.gov,
DelDReid@house.virginia.gov,
DelDScott@house.virginia.gov,
DelHSeibold@house.virginia.gov,
DelBSewell@house.virginia.gov,
DelIShin@house.virginia.gov,
DelMSickles@house.virginia.gov,
DelMSimon@house.virginia.gov,
DelSSimonds@house.virginia.gov,
DelRSullivan@house.virginia.gov,
DelJThomas@house.virginia.gov,
DelLTorian@house.virginia.gov,
DelKTran@house.virginia.gov,
DelJWard@house.virginia.gov,
DelVWatts@house.virginia.gov,
Rodney Willett <DelRWillett@house.virginia.gov