Protests across the country have led to the removal of many statues honouring racist figures. Does this signal a real change in how many countries recognise their racist past? Tara Pilkington reports.
In response to the recent death of George Floyd, protests have taken place across the globe calling for an end to police bruality.
Last week in Richmond, Virginia, protesters gratified a monument of the Confederate army commander ‘Robert E Lee’ as an act of resistance against police brutality and racism. Writing “Black Lives Matter”, “Blood On Your Hands” and “Stop White Supremacy” across the statue.
Richmond’s mayor, Levar Stoney, has agreed to take down the Lee statue, and vrious other city-controlled Confederate monuments, by 1 July.
Stoney has said: “Richmond is no longer the capital of the Confederacy,” Stoney said in a statement. “It is filled with diversity and love for all, and we need to demonstrate that.”
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, there are roughly 1,800 Confederate symbols across the US, 776 of which are monuments.
While 141 Confederate symbols have already been removed across the country, 61 of which are monuments, the SPLC has said there are currently seven Confederate symbols pending removal or renaming across the country.