RICHMOND, VIRGINIA PROTEST ART 2020

Photographs and words by Michael E. Keating

Richmond, Virginia is a historic American city about which I knew little. The year 2020 offered a screaming headline glimpse of Richmond, inasmuch as it became a flashpoint in the drive for social justice. A city where protestors defaced the Robert E. Lee statue and its 41-foot high base. That action has been called the "most influential protest artwork since World War II." Additional Confederate statues, often a source of controversy, were torn from their bases following the death of George Floyd while in police custody 1,200 miles west in MInneapolis. In the aftermath, only two statues honoring Richmond natives remain standing on Monument Avenue.

I have visited sites in my travels decades after their momentus entrance into history. I am usually surprised by the size of these places. In Dallas, where President John F. Kennedy was assassinated, Dealey Plaza is a physically tight spot compared to its broad swath of historical significance. The tiny confines of Ford's Theater in Washington, where President Abraham Lincoln was shot, and the small room across the street from the scene where he lay mortally wounded, pale compared to the status Lincoln holds as a statesman and leader.

The streets leading to Monument Avenue and the Robert E. Lee statue stands reflect the affluence of the neighborhood. Rich in architecture and well-maintained, the area was once celebrated in picture postcards, historical celebrations and social gatherings in the traditions of the antebellum south. At the time of the statue's construction, Monument Avenue had statues of three Confederate generals, a Confederate navy commander and a towering 65-foot column honoring its President, Jefferson Davis. The centerpiece Lee statue, located in the center of a roundabout, stands 21 feet-tall atop a 40-foot pedestal, The monuments, constructed from 1890 to 1929, were influenced by the then-popular belief that the Confederacy was just and heroic, an ideology also referred to as the the Lost Cause of the Confederacy.

May 31, 2020 news reports note "the statue was covered with graffiti, including the phrases “No More White Supremacy,” “Blood On Your Hands” and “Black Lives Matter.” Soon projections of Floyd and Breonna Taylor would be projected on the side of the base to call attention to their narrative. The Stonewall Jackson and Jeb Stuart Davis memorials were also defaced. Later, Richmond City officials had them removed. A noose hung from the statue of Davis, who was the president of the Confederacy and an ardent defender of slavery."

The rest is living history. The ongoing transformation of the statue and space has been called one of the "most influential pieces of protest art since WWII".

For me, the space and its significance seems larger than life. The open sky above and the passionate energy that must have been present at the onset have forever changed a course. Legal wrangling at the state government level continues, and the fate of the statue and site will eventually be determined.

It is noteworthy to me that 12 blocks away on Monument Avenue a statue of Arthur Ashe, Richmond native, tennis great, humanitarian and philanthropist may likely be the last man standing as Richmond and other places world-wide begin to distance themselves from controversial iconography.