What is it about?
This essay traces my own experience of the rapid and radical transformation of monuments to Robert E. Lee in two Virginia cities during Donald Trump’s first presidency. In 2017, white supremacists staged rallies in Charlottesville to challenge the proposed removal of a statue and in Richmond, after the May 2020 killing of George Floyd, when protesters occupied the site of that city’s massive Lee Memorial, converting it into a monument for Black victims of police brutality.
Featured Image
Photo by Dean Hinnant on Unsplash
Why is it important?
My study reconsiders the essential role of monuments in reshaping public memory. Both locations quickly became highly contested ground—spaces that people were willing to kill and die for.
Perspectives
I believe that one of my most important contributions has been linking the personal and the political. I clearly changed my views concerning the preservation of monuments and dissent. I hope the shifts in my own views are clear and might demonstrate the possibility for change on seemingly intractable issues.
David Ehrenpreis
James Madison University
Read the Original
This page is a summary of: A Space of Freedom: Richmond’s Robert E. Lee Memorial and the Future of America, December 2024, De Gruyter,
DOI: 10.1163/9789004712645_008.
You can read the full text:
Contributors
The following have contributed to this page
