131 Year old Controversial Confederate Statue Removed

A bronze confederate statue named “Appomattox” was removed from the city of Old Alexandria in Virginia on Tuesday by a team hired by the owners, The Sisters of the Confederacy. The news was broken by Alexandria’s mayor Justin Wilson, as he tweeted images from the worksite.

Although the Sisters of the Confederacy could not be contacted for an interview by CNN reporters, a spokesperson issued a statement that said it would remove the statue on Tuesday morning.

Mayor Wilson is quoted, saying “Alexandria, like all great cities, is constantly evolving.”

The statue shows a man, modeled after a painting by the same name showing a Confederate solider witnessing the surrender of the South to the North at the end of the American Civil War. In 1889 the state of Virginia passed a law protecting the statue, and it has been the subject of controversy ever since.

In September 2016, the Alexandria City Counsel decided to move the symbol of the Confederacy, but state officials never changed the law, making the act of physically moving the statue illegal.

The only other time the statue was moved was when it was struck by a car in 2019.

The eviction is likely a result of the 7 nights of protests in the country in response to the death of George Floyd and the many others affected by police brutality.

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