West Point has begun removing Confederate monuments on campus, including a portrait of Robert E. Lee, who once served as the head of the senior military academy. – said the officials.
Lt. Gen. Stephen W. Gilland said the academy will go through a “multi-step process” to remove references and installations honoring the Confederacy during the holiday break.
The scrub includes removing a portrait of Lee in Confederate uniform from West Point’s library that has hung since the 1950s, as well as removing a stone bust of the Civil War-era Southern general at Reconciliation Square and his citation of honor. academy from Honor Plaza.
The cleanup is part of an October Defense Department directive ordering the academy to address racial injustice and remove structures that “commemorate or commemorate the Confederacy.”
“During the holiday break, we are following Department of Defense (DoD) guidance regarding the removal, renaming, or alteration of assets and real estate at the United States Military Academy (USMA) and West Point. we begin a multi-step process. Commemorating or commemorating the Confederacy or those who volunteered for the Confederacy,” Gilland wrote.
The Confederate purge at West Point is a Department of Defense order.
Robert E. Lee, a high-ranking Confederate general during the Civil War, once served as the superintendent of West Point.
Also to be removed are a trio of bronze panels depicting some of the most important events and figures in US history, including Ben Franklin and Clara Barton, Lee and other Confederate figures, and a hooded figure with the words Ku Klux Klan. below.
The items will be placed in storage, said the general.
The changes followed demands to remove Confederate statues following the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis in the summer of 2020.
According to Gilland, a group of experts and partners spent the last several weeks developing a plan to implement the recommendations of the congressional naming commission under DoD guidelines.
Also, West Point’s Memorialization, History and Museum Committee is proposing new names for streets, buildings and areas at the academy after those who served in the Confederacy.
“We take these actions with dignity and respect,” Gilland said.
With post wires
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