Virginia lawmakers vote to remove statue of segregationist
Source: ABC News
A panel of Virginia legislators advanced a bill Friday to remove a statue of Harry F. Byrd Sr., a staunch segregationist, from the state Capitol grounds.
The decision came amid a yearslong effort in history-rich Virginia to rethink who is honored in the state's public spaces. Byrd, a Democrat, served as governor and U.S. senator. He ran the state's most powerful political machine for decades until his death in 1966 and was considered the architect of the state’s racist “massive resistance” policy to public school integration.
“It is my deep belief that monuments to segregation, massive resistance, and the subjugation of one race below another, like this statue, serve only as a reminder to the overt and institutional racism that has and continues to plague our Commonwealth,” the bill's sponsor, Del. Jay Jones, said when introducing the measure.
The bill moved out of the House committee on a party-line vote of 13-5, with all Republicans voting against it. It still must clear both chambers of the General Assembly, but with Democrats controlling the statehouse and Democrat Gov. Ralph Northam backing the measure, it is almost certain to pass.
Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/virginia-lawmakers-vote-remove-statue-segregationist-75427191?cid=clicksource_4380645_13_heads_posts_headlines_hed
= new reply since forum marked as read
The GOP continues to embrace their only platforms - racism, sexism, homophobia, antisemetism, xenophobia, and the right to suppress YOUR vote, and take a away a woman's freedom to control her own body.
And am equally glad that Virginia has been able to keep the blue going!
