WASHINGTON — A city council hearing in Charlottesville, Virginia that turned raucous at times ended with a 3–2 vote to remove a statue of the Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Lee Park.
The measure, which passed Monday, gives city officials two months to recommend how to move the equestrian monument, which has been there since 1924.
Councilman Wes Bellamy said community members feel the statue is culturally offensive and a symbol of white supremacy.
“We will not be bullied,” Bellamy said. “We will not be pushed away.”
Councilman Bob Fenwick provided the swing vote after both praising Lee and saying his record of fighting to preserve slavery is undeniable.
“The mission of that federal armed force was to preserve the economic life blood of the confederacy, literally, and that was the enslavement of human beings,” Fenwick said.
Councilwoman Kristin Szakos, another member who voted to remove the statue, referred to her religious beliefs.
“My faith calls me to be concerned with what hurts my neighbor and to do everything in my power to address that hurt,” said Szakos.
Mayor Mike Singer and Councilwoman Kathy Galvin voted against the resolution, expressing discomfort with the potential cost of moving the statue and of defending the city against legal challenges.
Removing the statue will cost an estimated $300,000. The council plans to meet in the near future to discuss how to pay for it.
“All I see in the wake of this destructive act is more division,” said Galvin. “The relocation of a statue can also seem reckless when it’s done without knowing the cost, without knowing a location and without knowing the expected outcomes.”
