The Monuments Debate

Abstract

This chapter recalls the approval of the resolution to create the Blue Ribbon Commission on Race, Memorials, and Public Spaces by the Charlottesville City Council on May 28, 2016. It explains that the resolution will provide the council with options for telling the full story of Charlottesville's history of race and for changing the City's narrative through public spaces. It also identifies nine persons who were appointed to the Blue Ribbon Commission, which had as its principal focus the statues Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson. The chapter highlights protestors that favor the removal of the statues, arguing that modern society should not idolize an evil history. It analyzes the Blue Ribbon Commissions compromise to not remove the Lee and Jackson statues on the condition that their meaning is transformed, and their history is retold.