Former capital of US slave-holding states removes its last public Confederate monument

By Rabia Iclal Turan

WASHINGTON (AA) - The city of Richmond, Virginia, the former capital of the slave-holding Confederate states during the American Civil War, removed its last city-owned Confederate monument on Monday.

Confederate Gen. A.P. Hill's statue at the intersection of Laburnum Avenue and Hermitage Road was removed early Monday, according to local reports and video footage posted on social media.

The statue will be moved to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia, also located in Richmond, now the capital of Virginia, no longer the Confederacy.

Monuments honoring Confederate figures have been a flashpoint of protests against police brutality and racial inequities in America, prompted by the 2020 death in police custody of George Floyd.

Richmond removed its first Confederate monuments in 2020 amid nationwide protests for racial justice following the murder of Floyd, a Black man who died after a police officer kneeled on his neck as he pleaded for his life.

Opponents of the monuments questioned why cities and governments should honor traitors to the US government who were also outspoken white supremacists.

The process to take down Hill’s statue was complicated by the fact that his remains are believed to be interred at the base of the monument. His indirect descendants have reportedly agreed to have his remains moved to a cemetery in nearby Culpeper, which is about 90 miles (145 kilometers) from Richmond.