Confederate Memorials Controversy
The Confederate memorials controversy centers around the debate over the appropriateness of monuments dedicated to the Confederate States of America. This discussion gained significant momentum after racially charged events, particularly the 2015 mass shooting in Charleston, South Carolina, and the violent 2017 Charlottesville rally. Proponents of removing these monuments argue that they symbolize White supremacy and perpetuate a glorified narrative of the Confederacy, while opponents contend they honor the sacrifices of those who fought in the Civil War, separate from racist ideologies.
In recent years, many municipalities across the United States have initiated removals of these memorials, especially following the protests sparked by the murder of George Floyd in 2020. High-profile removals occurred in cities like New Orleans, Charlottesville, and Richmond, reflecting a growing trend toward reevaluation of historical symbols in public spaces. However, the issue is contentious, with significant public opinion divided along political and racial lines. While many urban residents support removals, polls indicate a notable portion of the population favors keeping such monuments in place. The controversy continues to evoke strong sentiments, illustrating the complex interplay between history, memory, and contemporary social justice movements.
Subject Terms
Confederate Memorials Controversy
Date: 2015–present
Place: United States
Summary
The Confederate memorials controversy refers to the ongoing debate over whether monuments honoring the Confederate States of America are offensive and should be removed or are part of American cultural heritage and should remain in place. The issue came to widespread attention following a racially motivated mass shooting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina, in 2015, and violence by White nationalists at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, in 2017, which led a growing number of municipalities to remove Confederate monuments. Supporters of such removals argue that the memorials celebrate White supremacy and so are inappropriate for public display. Critics argue that such memorials honor the sacrifice of Americans who fought in the Civil War and are not representative of racism or White nationalist ideology.
Key Events
- June 17, 2015—White supremacist Dylann Roof murders nine African American churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina.
- December 17, 2015—New Orleans City Council votes to remove four major Confederate monuments in the city.
- May 19, 2017—New Orleans completes its removal of Confederate monuments.
- August 12, 2017—Unite the Right White nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, protests against the planned removal of a Confederate statue. A White nationalist drives a vehicle through a crowd of counterprotesters, killing one woman.
- August 14, 2017—Protestors pull down a Confederate statue in Durham, North Carolina.
- August 16, 2017—Baltimore, Maryland, removes four Confederate monuments overnight.
- August 17, 2017—President Donald Trump voices disapproval of the removal of Confederate monuments.
- May 25, 2020—Murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by White police officer sparks nationwide protests and renewed calls for removal of Confederate monuments.
- July 10, 2021—Charlottesville, Virginia removes statue of Robert E. Lee.
- December 12, 2022—Richmond, Virginia, removes last city-owned Confederate statue.
Status
Municipalities in a number of states across the country continued to remove or relocate Confederate statues, plaques, and other monuments or have voted in favor of doing so during the late 2010s and 2020s. Several institutions of higher learning, including the University of Texas at Austin and Duke University, also took down Confederate memorials in 2017 in response to the controversy. Other cities and towns continued to debate such measures. In 2020, following the murder of George Floyd and widespread protests for racial justice, an increase in monument removal occurred. Richmond, Virginia, notably removed several prominent Confederate monuments between 2020 and 2022. In 2021, Charlottesville, Virginia, finally removed the Robert E. Lee statue that had sparked the debate in 2017. In early 2022, the Southern Poverty Law Center reported that about 720 Confederate monuments remained in the United States at that time and that over 370 memorials had been removed, renamed, or relocated in the US since June 2015.
In-Depth Overview
Memorials honoring the proslavery Confederacy have stirred controversy as long as they have existed. Experts suggest that most such memorials were not erected immediately following the US Civil War, but rather appeared largely during times of backlash against political gains by African Americans. In particular, the rise of racist Jim Crow laws in the 1890s and the civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s saw spikes in the number of Confederate memorials established throughout the country. The assertion of White political power through monuments in public spaces occasionally drew protest, but it was not until the 2010s that the issue came to widespread attention.
On June 17, 2015, nine African Americans were murdered at a Methodist church in Charleston, South Carolina, by White supremacist Dylann Roof. Media reports showing Roof posing with the Confederate flag broadened public awareness of White nationalist and White supremacist groups in the United States. After the incident, Charleston legislators voted to move some of the city’s Confederate monuments to a Confederate cemetery and away from the city’s governmental buildings. Soon calls to remove Confederate memorials and other symbols spread throughout the country. Activists suggested that such public memorials not only glorify those who fought for slavery and normalize White supremacy, but also create a politicized public environment that reflects the marginalization of African Americans.
Several municipalities bowed to the pressure to remove Confederate monuments, either removing them entirely or relocating them to private or less highly visible spaces. Among the highest-profile cases was New Orleans, Louisiana, where the city council voted in December 2015 to remove four of the most prominent Confederate monuments in the city. New Orleans mayor Mitch Landrieu summarized his government’s decision in a public address, arguing that the monuments were no longer a reflection of the city. However, decisions to take down Confederate memorials were not universally popular. In several instances, White nationalist groups staged protests against removals, and some public officials even received threats. In New Orleans, contractors removing monuments in the spring of 2017 wore masks and ballistic vests due to death threats received by the city.
While ultimately no violence occurred during the New Orleans removals, the Confederate memorials controversy did prove deadly months later. A city council decision to remove a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville, Virginia, spurred White nationalists to organize the Unite the Right rally in protest. On August 12, 2017, the protestors in Charlottesville were met by a group of anti-racism and anti-fascism counterprotesters. After police were forced to disband the protest due to violence between the two groups, a White nationalist drove a car through a group of counterprotestors, killing one woman and injuring nineteen others.
The Charlottesville incident intensified calls for the removal of Confederate monuments in other cities. In Durham, North Carolina, protestors took the issue into their own hands just days after the Charlottesville rally, toppling a Confederate statue. On August 16, 2017, the city of Baltimore had the city’s Confederate statues removed at night and largely in secret, citing safety and security concerns. Mayor Catherine Pugh said she had the statues quietly removed in an effort to avoid the kind of violence seen in Charlottesville. Other municipalities and institutions such as colleges took steps to remove controversial monuments, but often met resistance and legal challenges.
Among the most notable supporters of keeping Confederate monuments in place was President Donald Trump. In social media comments on August 17, 2017, Trump claimed that removing Confederate monuments “ripped apart” US history and culture, and compared Confederate leaders to figures such as George Washington and Thomas Jefferson. His remarks drew considerable controversy, especially as he received open support from White supremacists including members of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and neo-Nazis.
While citizens in urban areas supported the removal of Confederate memorials, overall, polls indicated that a majority of Americans favor retaining monuments on public land. An August 2017 poll from Reuters found 54 percent favored leaving such monuments in all public spaces, with 27 percent approving removal. However, responses were deeply split along political and racial lines: conservatives and White males favored keeping Confederate monuments, while liberals and people of color were more likely to favor removal.
In 2020, the murder of George Floyd, a Black man, by a White police office and the ensuing nationwide protests for racial justice renewed efforts to remove Confederate monuments across the US. That year more than 150 memorials were removed—more than any other year on record. The year 2021 saw the removal of a prominent statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, Virginia, the former Confederate capital that once had more Confederate statues than any other city in the US. The Lee monmument that sparked the Unite the Right rally in Charlottesville was also removed in 2021. In late 2022, Richmond officials finally removed the last of its city-owned Confederate memorials.
Key Figures
Donald Trump: President of the United States.
Dylann Roof: White supremacist who murdered nine African Americans in South Carolina.
Mitch Landrieu: Mayor of New Orleans, Louisiana, who supported the removal of Confederate monuments.
Bibliography
Fandos, N., Goldman, R., & Bidgood, J. (2017, August 16). Baltimore mayor had statues removed in “best interest of my city.” The New York Times. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/16/us/baltimore-confederate-statues.html
Fitzhugh Brundage, W. (2017, August 18). I’ve studied the history of Confederate memorials. Here’s what to do about them. Vox. Retrieved from https://www.vox.com/the-big-idea/2017/8/18/16165160/confederate-monuments-history-charlottesville-white-supremacy
Hanna, J., Hartung, K., Sayers, D., & Almasy, S. (2017, August 13). Virginia governor to white nationalists: “Go home . . . shame on you.” CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/12/us/charlottesville-white-nationalists-rally/index.html
Kahn, C. (2017, August 21). A majority of Americans want to preserve Confederate monuments: Reuters/Ipsos poll. Reuters. Retrieved from https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-protests-poll/a-majority-of-americans-want-to-preserve-confederate-monuments-reuters-ipsos-poll-idUSKCN1B12EG
Kuta, Sarah. "Richmond Removes Its Last City-Owned Confederate Monument." Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Dec. 2022, www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/richmond-removes-its-last-city-owned-confederate-monument-180981289. Accessed 3 Mar. 2023.
Serhan, Y. (2017, June 26). St. Louis to remove its Confederate monument. The Atlantic. Retrieved from https://www.theatlantic.com/news/archive/2017/06/st-louis-to-remove-its-confederate-monument/531720/
Simon, D., & Almasy, S. (2017, May 19). Final Confederate statue comes down in New Orleans. CNN. Retrieved from http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/19/us/new-orleans-confederate-monuments/index.html
Whose Heritage? Public Symbols of the Confederacy (Third Edition). Southern Poverty Law Center, Feb. 2022, www.splcenter.org/20220201/whose-heritage-public-symbols-confederacy-third-edition. Accessed 3 Mar. 2023.