Confederate Statue in Arlington Cemetery to Stay for Now, Federal Judge Rules By David Zimmermann
A federal judge intervened on Monday to stop the removal of an Arlington National Cemetery monument commemorating national reunification after the Civil War.
U.S. district judge Rossie Alston issued a temporary restraining order shortly after work began Monday morning to remove the Civil War landmark, which the Defense Department ordered to be removed by January 1.
Alston’s ruling was delivered in response to a lawsuit that sought the restraining order. A preservation group called Defend Arlington, which is tied to Save Southern Heritage Florida, filed the suit Sunday in Alexandria, Va. The judge will hear opinions from both parties on Wednesday before deciding whether to extend the restraining order.
The plaintiffs alleged the U.S. Army, which runs the cemetery, is violating regulations by seeking a quick removal that will possibly “desecrate, damage, and likely destroy” the monument “as a grave marker and impede the Memorial’s eligibility for listing on the National Register of Historic Places,” according to the lawsuit. An attorney for the plaintiffs reportedly said they have evidence that the hasty deconstruction project would disturb grave sites.
Over the weekend, Arlington National Cemetery said it will ensure the protection of “the surrounding landscape, graves, and headstones,” while announcing tentative plans to remove the Confederate memorial by December 22. The cemetery intends to comply with a congressional mandate that was issued after an independent commission recommended its removal last year, as part of a larger effort to rename military bases and assets that commemorate the Confederacy.
The panel advised Congress to authorize the removal and renaming of such landmarks and facilities after George Floyd’s death in May 2020, which shortly thereafter prompted Black Lives Matter protests and riots across the U.S. However, not all congressmen approved of the commission’s recommendation.
Over 40 House Republicans wrote a letter to Defense secretary Lloyd Austin last Monday, demanding that the Pentagon suspend all deconstruction projects related to the Confederate monument in question until Congress approves all fiscal year 2024 appropriations bills. Led by Representative Andrew Clyde (R., Ga.), the GOP lawmakers argued that the statue “does not honor nor commemorate the Confederacy” but instead “commemorates reconciliation and national unity” after the Civil War.
The Reconciliation Monument displays a bronze woman as a symbol of the American South standing over 32 other figures, who represent mythical gods as well as Southern soldiers and civilians. The statue, erected in 1914, depicts a black woman as “Mammy” holding the child of a white officer and shows an enslaved man following his owner to war.
Governor Glenn Youngkin (R., Va.), according to one of his spokespeople, disagrees with the monument’s removal and plans to relocate it to the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park in the Shenandoah Valley if it can’t stay in Arlington.
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