Politics
17:24, 21-Aug-2017
University of Texas at Austin to move statues of four Confederacy figures
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The University of Texas at Austin is removing the statues of four figures tied to the Confederacy, the school's president said on Sunday, saying they had become symbols of white supremacy.
White nationalists and counter-protesters clashed this month in Charlottesville, Virginia, and one woman was killed when a suspected white nationalist crashed his car into anti-racism demonstrators.
Protesters chant slogans against white nationalism in Times Square in New York City, the day after the attack on counter-protesters at the "Unite the Right" rally organized by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, US, August 13, 2017. /Xinhua Photo
Protesters chant slogans against white nationalism in Times Square in New York City, the day after the attack on counter-protesters at the "Unite the Right" rally organized by white nationalists in Charlottesville, Virginia, US, August 13, 2017. /Xinhua Photo
The violence triggered the biggest domestic crisis yet for President Donald Trump, who provoked anger across the political spectrum for not immediately condemning white nationalists and for praising "very fine people" on both sides of the fight.
"Last week, the horrific displays of hatred at the University of Virginia and in Charlottesville shocked and saddened the nation," school president Greg Fenves said in a statement.
Workers load statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson on a flatbed truck in the early hours of August 16, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. /AFP Photo
Workers load statues of Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson on a flatbed truck in the early hours of August 16, 2017 in Baltimore, Maryland. /AFP Photo
"These events make it clear, now more than ever, that Confederate monuments have become symbols of modern white supremacy and neo-Nazism," he said.
A growing number of US political leaders have called for the removal of statues honoring the Confederacy. Civil rights activists say that they promote racism while advocates of the statues contend they are a reminder of American heritage.
The four statues which the University of Texas at Austin is removing from its main mall include one of Robert E. Lee, who led the pro-slavery Confederacy's army during the Civil War, which ended in 1865.
The Lee statue will be moved to the school's Briscoe Center for American History, where it will be accessible for scholarly study, Fenves said.
Last weekend, white nationalists converged in Charlottesville to protest the planned removal of a statue of Lee at a park.
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Source(s): Reuters