Lee statue defaced as Confederate monument protests grow in US

WASHINGTON: A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was defaced at North Carolina’s Duke University and there were more arrests on Thursday over the toppling of a similar statue as communities in the US South faced a contentious debate over such divisive monuments.

Damage is seen to the face of a statue of Confederate commander General Robert E. Lee at Duke University's Duke Chapel in Durham. REUTERS

Washington, August 18

A statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee was defaced at North Carolina’s Duke University and there were more arrests on Thursday over the toppling of a similar statue as communities in the US South faced a contentious debate over such divisive monuments.

The discovery came as President Donald Trump stoked the controversy over the statues, echoing white nationalists by decrying the removal of what he said were “beautiful” monuments to the pro-slavery Confederacy.

The statue of Lee at the Duke Chapel in Durham, North Carolina, was found early on Thursday with its nose and other facial features chipped off, the university said in a statement. Lee led the Confederate Army during the American Civil War.

The university said that surveillance camera footage was being reviewed for clues as to who was behind the attack on the statue, which stands by the chapel entrance. Security around the site is also being stepped up.

A fresh debate over Confederate symbols has roiled the United States since Saturday’s violence during a protest by white supremacists in Charlottesville, Virginia, against the removal of a Lee statue in which one woman died.

Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer is due to make an announcement on Friday about the statue, public safety at future events, and the legacy of Heather Heyer, the 32-year-old woman who was killed, Signer’s office said in a statement.

Also in Durham, four people surrendered on Thursday to face rioting and other charges stemming from the toppling of a statue of a Confederate soldier by protesters there, the Durham County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement. That brought the number arrested in connection with Monday’s toppling to eight.

More than 100 people, meanwhile, staged a peaceful demonstration at the local courthouse, the sheriff’s office said. Many of them claimed they were involved in Monday’s action and demanded to be arrested too, according to local news reports and footage posted on social media.

“Deputies did not arrest rally participants who approached them claiming responsibility for the destruction of a historical statue,” the sheriff’s office said in its statement.

In Helena, Montana, the city council voted on Wednesday to remove a Confederate fountain from a park. Democratic Governor Steve Bullock said the decision marked the removal of the last monument to the Confederacy in the northwest Rocky Mountains.

San Diego city officials on Wednesday also removed a plaque to Confederate President Jefferson Davis from a downtown plaza, local media said.

In Arizona, tar and feathers coated a monument for the Jefferson Davis Memorial Highway, about 40 miles east of Phoenix, local TV news footage showed. — Reuters

The battle over statues

America’s latest conflict about race began with a mass shooting, a flag, and some statues. Why does US suddenly care so much about these old pieces of metal and stone?

The current battle actually goes back to a mass shooting in 2015, when self-described white supremacist Dylann Roof shot and killed nine persons in a predominantly black church in Charleston, South Carolina.

Roof drew a lot of attention for posing with the Confederate flag in images that came out after the shooting and that helped spur a fight within South Carolina about whether it should take down a Confederate flag that had flown at the state capitol for years.

The state eventually agreed to officially take down the flag (after it was unofficially taken down by activist Bree Newsome).

Since then, many cities and states, particularly in the South, have been questioning their own Confederate symbols. The argument is simple: The Confederacy fought to maintain slavery and white supremacy in the United States, and that isn’t something that the country should honor or commemorate in any way.

Critics argue, however, that these monuments are really about Southern pride, not commemorating a pro-slavery rebellion movement. They argue that trying to take down the Confederate symbols works to erase part of American history.

President Donald Trump invoked such an argument on Tuesday: “This week, it is Robert E. Lee and, this week, Stonewall Jackson. Is it George Washington next? You have to ask yourself, where does it stop?” He later reiterated these arguments on Twitter, calling it “foolish” to take down Confederate monuments. — Agencies