Ian Brickey (314) 238-6766, ian.brickey@sierraclub.org
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Last night, a statue of Confederate general Robert E. Lee was quietly removed from the National Statuary Hall Collection at the United States Capitol. The statue was one of two statues in the collection representing the Commonwealth of Virginia. The other statue depicts George Washington. Gov. Ralph Northam announced that Virginia would seek to replace the Lee statue with a statue to civil rights activist Barbara Johns, who as a teenager led a student boycott against school segregation. The removal of the Lee statue is the latest move against Confederate monuments around the country, spurred by months of protests against white supremacy in the wake of the murder of George Floyd on May 25.
In response, Sierra Club Military Outdoors campaign manager Rob Vessels released the following statement:
“We applaud Virginia’s decision to remove its statue of Robert E. Lee from the Capitol. Replacing it with a statue of the late Barbara Johns would be an honorable move.
“Lee rebelled against his country to defend the institution of slavery. Johns was only a teenager when she organized her fellow students to demonstrate against segregation and Jim Crow. It could not be more clear who is more deserving of the honor of a statue in our capitol, and we look forward to the removal of the building’s remaining Confederate statues.”
About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.