NEW ORLEANS (WVUE-DT/CNN Newsource) – Coming down in New Orleans, statues that honor the “lost cause of the confederacy.”
The process began in the darkness of Monday morning with the removal of the Battle of Liberty Place statue.
It honors members of the “Crescent City White League”, a group that fought racially-integrated New Orleans police and state militia.
This is one of four statues the city’s mayor Mitch Landrieu wants to move to a place with more historical context.
A long public process led to the decision the statues did not reflect values of diversity and inclusion in New Orleans.
The statue relocation has been emotional in the city.
One resident said, “This has been all over the news it’s been on NOLA.com. It’s been all over the news, they’ve been talking about this the whole point of you electing officials to office is to make these decisions for us. They made the right decision, live with it. They were vehemently against this–you go look at any poll. That’s why people who were very much for it. Obviously, the mayor we voted into office was very much for it. Hence, it’s coming down.”
Mayor Landrieu has received death threats over the removal.
Other statues being relocated include ones honoring Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and the PGT Beauregard Equestrian statue.
They’ll first go into storage, before a move to a museum or other facility.
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