A federal judge ruled Tuesday that the path to removing Confederate monuments from Arlington National Cemetery will be halted Tuesday, a day after a temporary restraining order halted plans to relocate one of the Confederacy’s most prominent monuments from the nation’s most famous cemetery. I cut it open. .
The monument has been criticized for its sanitized depiction of slavery, and its removal is part of a military-wide effort to remove Confederate symbols from bases, ships and other facilities. Dozens of Republican lawmakers oppose removing the monument.
in his judgmentJudge Rossie David Alston Jr. of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia ruled that a group called Defend Arlington had argued that keeping the monument in place was in the public interest and that there were graves nearby. It was determined that the claim could not be demonstrated. The risk of harm was “misinformation or misleading.”
At a hearing earlier in the day, Judge Alston said he had inspected the site and “did not see any graves being desecrated.” According to the Associated Press.
“The grass was undisturbed,” he says.
Demolition of the monument was stopped on Monday after Defend Arlington, a member of the Southern Florida Heritage Preservation Group, requested a restraining order. The group filed a lawsuit against the Pentagon on Sunday, alleging that the decision to remove the monument was hasty and that removal efforts could damage surrounding graves and headstones.
The monument was funded by the Daughters of the Confederacy and features representative women of the American South standing on a 32-foot-tall pedestal. According to the cemetery. Near the base are dozens of life-sized Confederate soldiers, mythical gods and two enslaved black men.
According to the cemetery’s description, one is of a black woman holding the child of a Confederate officer, and the other is of a man who “followed his owner to war.”
Kelly L. Meeker, a spokeswoman for the cemetery, said in an emailed statement that the removal process will continue immediately.
“While work is being carried out, the surrounding graves, headstones and landscape will be carefully protected by a dedicated team to ensure the sanctity of all those buried,” she said.
Meeker said the monument is expected to be removed by Friday, Dec. 22. It will then be stored in a secure facility “until its final disposition is determined.”
“While we respect the court’s decision, the evidence shows that in its haste to remove the Settlement Monument, the Department of Defense failed to conduct the legally required review of historic preservation and environmental impact. We continue to believe that the Arrington said in his emailed statement.
More than 40 Republicans signed Last week’s letter argued that the monument does not commemorate the Confederacy, but rather “reconciliation and national unity” between the North and South.
But for others, including members, naming committee, the intricate images and inscriptions carved into bronze worship the story of the Lost Cause, the myth that the Southern Rebellion was a noble fight for states’ rights. Historians say the organization, made up of descendants of men who served in the Confederate military and government, has raised funds for monuments and numerous other groups that present a romanticized view of the Confederacy and a sanitized view of slavery. collected.
University of Delaware historian Alison Parker said these types of monuments, erected in the early 20th century, are “a kind of embodiment of nostalgia based on the idea that slavery wasn’t really what it was.” He said it was about. Unfortunately, people weren’t really hurt by it, and in fact, it was part of the so-called happy family on the plantation. ”
Professor Parker said: “There is a misconception in the idea that these monuments need to be preserved as an expression of history, in that they are historic and should be preserved.”
“In some cases, I think it’s okay to remove these types of monuments because they still have harmful meanings,” she said.
rebecca carballo and orlando mallorquin Contributed to the report.