Richmond, Virginia, Finally Takes Down Its Last Confederate Statue

According to the Associated Press, Richmond was known to be the capital of the Confederacy during the Civil War. In the decades following the war, there were statues put in place to honor Confederate leaders who were a part of the painful racist history of the state.

Following the protests that took place in response to footage of George Floyd‘s encounter with police — which led to his unfair death — the state began to take down Confederate monuments to show change and progression.

The last remaining sculpture in Richmond was of Confederate General A.P. Hill. It stood in one of the city’s busiest intersections, and the general’s remains were buried underneath. This week, it was taken down in minutes by a crane that put the figure on the back of a truck. It will be given to the Black History Museum and Cultural Center of Virginia.

Hill’s indirect descendants agreed with attorneys to have his casket moved to Culpeper, Virginia, hopefully to a battlefield cemetery near where he was born.

Hill’s family said they felt that ownership of the statue should also be turned over to them. However, in October, it was decided by a judge that city officials could make the decision on where the statue could go, and the descendants could move Hill’s remains where they’d like.