CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (WVIR) - Charlottesville City Council is moving forward on a plan to remove a statue on West Main Street, near the Downtown Mall.
Representatives from the Shoshone Tribe met with city leaders for a work session at Carver Recreation Center Friday, November 15. Councilors heard from descendants of Sacagawea over what to do with the statue of the guide who helped explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark.
“This morning, I went out there to look at that statue. It did not make me feel good at all,” descendant Emma George said.
Two Native American tribes argued that the statue is inaccurate, offensive, and should be removed.
“Native people in Virginia need no longer to be invisible. Once this image is removed, and once it is out of sight, it will bring a growth to people,” descendant Ann Abrahamson said.
“We’ve been out of balance in this community for a long time. We’re usually having that conversation just in terms of black and white, but that imbalance started way before the discussion that we’re usually talking about,” Mayor Nikuyah Walker said.
City Council was considering several options, but decided to remove the statute from the street entirely. Councilors voted 4-0; councilor Mike Signer was not present.
“You have to be bold and audacious, and it may be very uncomfortable,” Walker said.
City Hall staff will come up with a plan for removal of the statue, as well as get cost estimates.
Councilors are expected to talk about this issue again at their meeting Monday, November 18.
11/15/2019 Resolution from the City of Charlottesville:
RESOLUTION DIRECTING STAFF TO PREPARE REMOVAL OF THE STATUE LOCATED ON WEST MAIN STREET DEPICTING SACAJAWEA, MERIWETHER LEWIS, AND WILLIAM CLARK
WHEREAS , the Charlottesville City Council convened a work session on November 15, 2019 to discuss the statue depicting Sacajawea, Meriwether Lewis, and William Clark located on West Main Street in the City of Charlottesville, Virginia; and
WHEREAS , the Charlottesville City Council received input on the statue from representatives of the Shoshone and Monacan tribes including lineal descendants of Sacajawea; and
WHEREAS , the lineal descendants of Sacajawea expressed their extreme displeasure with the depiction of Sacajawea in the statue located on West Main Street.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Charlottesville, Virginia that staff is directed to present the Council with a plan for the removal of the statue from West Main Street and such plan shall include a cost estimate for the removal of the statue as well as options for the disposal of the statue; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED by the Council of the City of Charlottesville that staff is directed to present a plan to the Council of a new statue of Sacajawea and other memorializations of Virginia native peoples with primary consultation from indigenous people on the design of the statue and other memorializations of Virginia native peoples.
First, they came for the Confederate statues…can the statues of Washington, Jefferson, and Madison be far behind?
Why do people put up with this? I mean Charlottesville is still majority White, right? I know there are a bunch of Heather-Heyer-esque fat freaks there, but I was hoping there were still enough normal people around to block moves like this…
So they want the message to be received loud and clear. Virginia is now a far-left blue state. Got it. Shithole status confirmed.
It’s a university town, and therefore politically and socially liberal, and abides by leftist policies.
Here’s the city council:
What the HELL is the complaining of Lewis and Clark and Sacajawea about. What is inaccurate???
We all knew this wouldn’t end with the confederate generals.
It’s the Orwellian way! Orwell is being proven that he indeed was a prophet!
What if ourguys removed the statues before they could destroy them and stored them someplace safe?
The city would have to pretend it was ANTIFA. Or at least acknowledge that they’re FINE when ANTIFA does it, but not the right. And no one would care anyway.
It would deprive them of their PR victories AND save the artwork and monuments.
This is not advocacy it is questions.
I advocate it.
Thanks for the great idea.
Share it on social media.
In the meantime, become informed about who is really behind this.
Summary
Summary
“When Idaho legislator Curtis Bowers wrote a ‘letter to the editor’ about the drastic changes in America’s culture, it became the feature story on the evening news, people protested at the Capitol, and for weeks the local newspapers were filled with responses. He realized then, he’d hit on something. Ask almost anyone and you’ll hear, ‘Communism is dead! The Berlin Wall came down.’ Though the word communism isn’t used anymore, this film will show the ideas behind it are alive and well. Join Bowers for a fascinating look at the people and groups that have successfully targeted America’s morality and freedom in their effort to grind America down”–
Agenda - Grinding America Down (Part 1 of 2)
Agenda - Grinding America Down (Part 2 of 2)
I think it’s a good idea but people would have to be willing to face some serious consequences because as we all know there is a justice system for the leftists and then a justice system for everyone else.
The only difference between ANTIFA and ISIS is ISIS destroys the statues.
I don’t think there is a separate justice system for the left. I think there is a separate justice system for the elite. Antifa are the foot soldiers of the elite and so they are often immune from arrest and prosecution. In instances where they are arrested and prosecuted, they generally receive light sentences.
They should leave the pedestal in place without plaque, so that children can ask their parents about it, and their parents can tell them that history is being re-written by the left, and that most of it is a lie.
Well that’s like saying the only difference between Trump and Hitler is a funny little mustache…
I would be interested in further information on what it is about this statue that offends native Americans. Lewis and Clark managed to traverse the wilderness between St. Louis and basically today’s Portland and back, encountering a couple dozen various Indian tribes along the way, avoiding any violence causing death to any natives save two who attempted to steel weapons from Lewis’s small party that went up the Marias in Blackfoot territory. Sacajawea for her part was very helpful to their cause and is famous. She has been honored in many a book and documentaries, her name appears on historical placards all about the north west, a very fine statue of her stands in Three Forks Montana, and many places are named after her.
I see a statue like this as vastly different than statues dedicated to the honor of persons who were at war with the US federal government, defending an institution that thankfully has been abolished.
This statue will never be touched.
They never care about Native Americans.