During the height of the 2020 riots across the country, kicked off by the death of George Floyd, it seemed like not a day went by without reports of far-left protesters defacing or tearing down Confederate symbols, though many times their ire was completely misdirected, as statues of abolitionists Matthias Baldwin and Frederick Douglass were also subject to attack. In all, more than 100 Confederate symbols were removed, relocated or renamed by October 2020. And while tempers have cooled since then, many monuments still aren’t safe, three years later. That’s due, in large part, to a congressional mandate passed in 2020 that requires the Department of Defense to remove all "names, symbols, displays, monuments, and paraphernalia that honor or commemorate the Confederate States of America" no later than Jan. 1, 2024.
So despite the best efforts by a group of Republican lawmakers, the Reconciliation Monument in the Arlington National Cemetery is coming down.
“Army National Military Cemeteries (ANMC) is complying with a Congressionally mandated requirement to remove the Confederate Memorial by Jan. 1, 2024,” read a statement posted on Saturday. “ANMC has complied with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) prior to removal. ANMC completed these processes and is now in the process of removing the Confederate Memorial from ANC. Safety fencing has been installed around the Confederate Memorial and we anticipate complete removal no later than Dec. 22, 2023.”
The Republicans, led by Rep. Andrew Clyde of George, urged Secretary Lloyd Austin to keep the monument, since it was dedicated to national unity after the Civil War not to commemorate the Confederacy.
"Despite bipartisan support for this monument, the Naming Commission, established by the Fiscal Year 2021 National Defense Authorization Act, clearly overstepped its legislative authority when it recommended that the Department of the Army remove the Reconciliation Monument from Arlington National Cemetery," the lawmakers wrote in the letter.
They also pointed to the fact that it’s a gravesite.
"Furthermore, the Naming Commission’s authority explicitly prohibits the desecration of grave sites. Considering the hundreds of gravestones encircling the monument, it would be impossible for these graves to remain untouched if the Department of the Army proceeds with its proposed removal of the monument – both being a clear violation of Congress’ enacted statute and legislative intent."
Conservatives sounded off on social media about the decision.
"It’s literally called the “Reconciliation Monument” and was erected 100 years ago as a sign that the country had moved on from the Civil War. Now they’re tearing it down as a sign that they actually don’t want us to move on," said The Daily WIre's Matt Walsh.
"A monument to reconciliation constructed by the men who fought the war being torn down by ignorant liberals a century later is really something," wrote Rep. Mike Collins of Georgia.
Clyde shared the administration's justification for the monument's removal.
Joe Biden’s woke DOD intends to move forward with its misguided plan to remove the Reconciliation Monument—which commemorates national unity—from Arlington National Cemetery.
— Rep. Andrew Clyde (@Rep_Clyde) December 17, 2023
The Left wants division and destruction—not unity and reconciliation. pic.twitter.com/ajO6OcJKG2
Update:
A federal judge on Monday issued a temporary restraining order barring removal of a memorial to Confederate soldiers at Arlington National Cemetery.
A group called Defend Arlington, affiliated with a group called Save Southern Heritage Florida, filed a lawsuit Sunday in federal court in Alexandria, Virginia, seeking the restraining order. A hearing has been scheduled for Wednesday.
Work to remove the memorial had begun Monday before the restraining order was issued, but the memorial remains in place on cemetery grounds. (NBC Washington)
