House Votes to Remove Confederate Statues
In August 2017, the city leaders of Charlottesville, Virginia, decided to remove a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee from a public park. In response, hundreds of white nationalists showed up for a “Unite the Right” protest. They were met by a group of counter-protestors. One of the counter protestors named Heather Heyer was killed when a white nationalist drove his car into a crowd of demonstrators. This tragedy added to a continuing national debate over the role of Confederate flags, statues, and monuments. On June 29, 2021, the House of Representatives voted to remove all Confederate statues on display in the U.S. Capitol. Here, btw takes a closer look at that decision.
What Happened?
The House voted to remove all Confederate statues and busts from the Capitol, as well as a bust of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger Taney. Chief Justice Taney authored the 1857 Dred Scott decision that declared that African Americans could not be citizens. HR 3005 passed 285-120, with all Democrats and 67 Republicans voting in favor of it. All “no” votes were from Republicans. The measure also received support from the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), which has been calling for the removal of all Confederate statues in the Capitol since before the Charlottesville violence occurred.
A statue of Robert E. Lee, the head of the Confederate army, was already removed last December. It will be replaced with a statue of Barbara Johns, a civil rights activist. Also last year, Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi ordered the removal of four portraits of former House Speakers who also served the Confederacy.
What Does It Mean?
The bill still needs to be approved by the Senate and signed by the president before any of these new changes would go into effect. HR 3005 requires that all Confederate statues–6 in total–be removed within 45 days. Those that were provided by a state will be returned to that state, which would then have the right to replace it with another statue if they choose. Additionally, the bust of Chief Justice Taney would be replaced with one of Thurgood Marshall, who was the first African American Supreme Court Justice.
The statues scheduled for removal include Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy; Alexander Hamilton Stephens, Vice President of the Confederacy; Wade Hampton, a Confederate military officer and governor; and Charles Aycock, John C. Calhoun, and James Paul Clarke, all congressmen who defended slavery.
What Was Said, For and Against?
Democrats who supported the bill said that while the nation must remember its history, it can still choose which parts of it to honor. According to Democrats, displaying statues of Confederate leaders celebrates racism and slavery, as well as sedition. Members of the CBC pointed out that their ancestors were enslaved persons who built the Capitol, and that it’s offensive to use the grounds to honor those who kept them enslaved.
Those Republicans opposing the bill said that it isn’t the federal government’s right to remove statues in the National Statuary Hall Collection which have been contributed by states. Under current law, statues can only be removed with the permission of the state government that contributed it. This new law, if it goes into effect, would overrule that existing law. A similar piece of legislation was passed by the House in July 2020 but did not advance further through Congress.