The House voted on Wednesday to remove and ban statues of Confederate figures and leaders who pushed white supremacist agendas from the U.S. Capitol. This is part of a broader effort to remove historical symbols of racism and oppression from public spaces.
What We Know:
- The bipartisan vote, 305 to 113, came amid a national discussion about racism and justice after the death of George Floyd. In recent weeks, there have been demands to remove these problematic historical figures from public spaces as some protestors have toppled Confederate statues across the country in an effort to remove them. Last month, speaker Nancy Pelosi ordered that the portraits of four speakers who served the Confederacy be removed from the hall just outside the House chamber.
- The legislation, led by Representative Steny H. Hoyer, Democrat of Maryland and the majority leader, would mandate the removal of “all statues of individuals who voluntarily served” the Confederacy with five statues specifically identified for removal. One of those statues is a bust of Chief Justice Roger B. Taney, who delivered the majority Supreme Court opinion in the landmark Dred Scott v. Sandford case. That case ruled that slaves were not American citizens and could not sue in federal court. Hoyer’s bill plans to replace the bust with one of Thurgood Marshall, the first Black Supreme Court Justice.
- “Today will be a historic day in the history of the Congress of the United States and of our country,” Hoyer said. “The House is taking a long-overdue and historic step to ensure that individuals we honor in our Capitol represent our nation’s highest ideals and not the worst in its history.”
- “These painful symbols of bigotry and racism, they have no place in our society, and certainly should not be enshrined in the United States Capitol,” said Representative Barbara Lee, Democrat of California and a co-sponsor of the bill. “It’s past time that we end the glorification of men who committed treason against the United States in a concerted effort to keep African-Americans in chains.”
- These statues are featured in the National Statuary Hall Collection in the Capitol, where each state is allowed to send two statues to be a part of the display. Federal law gives state leaders the authority to replace them, not members of Congress. So, although House Democrats are in the majority, Republican lawmakers have long argued that states should retain that right and they have been unable to remove the statues in the past.
- Senator Mitch McConnell, Republican of Kentucky and the majority leader, is unlikely to allow the bill to receive a vote in the Senate. He calls the move “clearly a bridge too far” and an attempt to “airbrush the Capitol”.
- The vote in the House was a striking display of bipartisanship, however. 72 Republicans voted in favor of the measure on Wednesday, arguing that it was an important symbolic step toward reconciliation. “The history of this nation is so fraught with racial division, with hatred,” said Representative Paul Mitchell, Republican of Michigan, who supported the bill. “The only way to overcome that is to recognize that, acknowledge it for what it is.”
- Representative James E. Clyburn, Democrat of South Carolina and the majority whip, does not believe the statues should be torn down or destroyed, instead, that they should be placed in a museum. This would allow the statues to be used as a reminder of our history, without honoring them. He issued a broad warning against the destruction of Confederate monuments. “I do not advocate and don’t want anybody tearing down any statues,” Clyburn said. “I want them put in their proper perspective.”
I’m not for destroying any statue.
I’m here to ask my colleagues to very properly and lawfully return these people to their proper place.
Put them where they can be studied, where people will know exactly who and what they were.
But do not honor them and do not glorify them. pic.twitter.com/APDa9AyRqb
— James E. Clyburn (@WhipClyburn) July 22, 2020
- While the topic of the statue removal has been discussed and argued for years, the issue never reached the House floor until now, amid the nationwide protests for racial justice sparked by Floyd’s death in May. Representative Karen Bass, Democrat of California and the chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus spoke on the topic, “Imagine what it feels like as an African American to know that my ancestors built the Capitol, but yet there are monuments to the very people that enslaved my ancestors,” Bass said. “Statues are not just historical markers but are tributes, a way to honor an individual. These individuals do not deserve to be honored.”
While the statues bill was passed in the House, it is unclear of its future within the Senate. Additionally, it is unclear whether President Donald Trump would sign the bill given that he has long voiced his opinion on the topic of keeping Confederate names, statues, and symbols in public spaces.
