The Battle of Monument Avenue: Report No. 4

Kennedy George and Ava Holloway celebrating the moment.

Friday, June 5, 2020: The culture developing around the much-photographed base of the Lee Monument has continued to evolve. The metamorphosis of the milieu during the week, from threatening-and-perhaps-dangerous to loosely-organized-and-peaceful, has been remarkable to watch.

Note: I didn't witness firsthand any of the fires and violent battles of last weekend in Richmond. They happened in other parts of town. I'm only reporting what I've seen.  

The 1600 block of Monument Avenue and the green circle around the Lee Monument have become a particularly cool place in the Fan District to party in the beautiful weather. Several small tents were standing at Happy Hour time. Cars rode by and drivers blew their horns. In response, young people who had been drawn to scene cheered.

Music was in the air. In short, the celebration was in full bloom.

Each day this week more graffiti has been added to the pedestals of the J.E.B. Stuart and Robert E. Lee monuments. All up and down the long block between those looming statues, the residents in the old townhouses have posted signs in their front windows in support of the marchers.

Like it or not, thousands of demonstrators seeking justice for George Floyd, who died of asphyxiation May 25, 2020 -- with a cop's knee on his neck -- chose this site in Richmond to express their outrage. That, as well as their hopes for a better future. Most of the demonstrators have been young.

Now the four police officers who executed Floyd in Minneapolis are in jail. And, Richmond's most well known/infamous Confederate propaganda in bronze is about to be 86-ed.

They are students at the Central Virginia Dance Academy.

Saturday: Unlike many cities, coast-to-coast, in Richmond the demonstrators who came to the neighborhood each night of the week ending today, something noteworthy has already been accomplished. The call for removing Monument Avenue's five statues of Confederate heroes has been answered. On Thursday, Richmond's mayor and Virginia's governor both announced they will be acting in the days to come to remove the monuments.

Apparently, Gov. Ralph Northam can order the six-story-high Robert E. Lee statue taken down on his own volition. The grassy circle on which it rests, between the 1600 and 1800 blocks of Monument Avenue, is an island of property owned the Commonwealth of Virginia. 

The other four Confederate memorials on Monument Avenue are on city property. So Mayor Levar Stoney's ambitious plan to remove the others needs City Council's OK for it to happen. However, word has already begun to spread that the nine-member Council will follow the mayor's lead with unanimous consent.

So it's reasonable to guess that before the summer is over the five Confederate "monuments" on Richmond's Monument Avenue will have been dismantled and moved elsewhere. What will happen to the empty spaces?

Since those spaces were for so long devoted to elevating myths of the Lost Cause it is important for Richmond's future to take care to do the right thing with filling up those publicly-owned spaces. Therefore, I'll be writing about that tomorrow (Sunday). In the meantime, the spontaneous party is still happening.

*

Note: My photos.