I went and said to me one morning I want
you to think about something I said what
about these statues man we need to do
something special that statue of Li
there’s no reason for them never statue
in the waters even win anything I think
my first reaction was a few of us and
the issue is this is a symbol of a
defeated general I always wanted to
remove I used to dream about blowing it
up of course I wasn’t going to do it but
I would dream about it like in high
school and it was always on my mind that
was the first time I actually put myself
in somebody else’s shoes and then I just
started researching it something will
put out well after the Civil War had
ended by the Daughters of the
Confederacy and the cost of the Lost
Cause the people that lost decided to
put these statues up to send a message
to people just like when that you’re
lessening and even though we lost the
war and the United States won we’re not
coming along and that’s why Robert easel
these arms are folded and he’s looking
north it’s an affront to the idea of
what America was supposed to be post-war
where the monuments for of course the
four million American citizens who were
enslaved beaten tortured raped I mean
that’s what slavery was as Landrieu was
contemplating what to do nine black
parishioners were murdered in the
Charleston AME Church by Dylan Ruth a 21
year old self-proclaimed white
supremacist who posted photos like this
one online
[Music]
the time has come as a result the
Confederate flag flying over the South
Carolina Statehouse was lowered for good
and nationwide there was a reexamination
of Confederate symbols it is
specifically the moment that South
Carolina happened when I said to myself
you know what we can’t wait any more to
do this these issues have to be
confronted but it wasn’t easy it took
our 7 different lawsuits 13 separate
judges I mean people really kicking and
screaming in the spring of 2017 after
the City Council voted to remove the
four statues the first of them came down
there were imminent death threats that
were coming again the reason three of
them were taken down at night was on
advice of security personnel who
basically said it’s harder to get shot
by a sniper at night but there were also
celebrations New Orleans
[Music]
when the final statue of Robert Ely was
removed from its nearly 60-foot column
Landrieu gave a speech that got national
attention these monuments celebrate a
fictional sanitised Confederacy ignoring
the death ignoring the enslavement
ignoring the terror that it actually
stood for
[Applause]
[Music]
you to think about something I said what
about these statues man we need to do
something special that statue of Li
there’s no reason for them never statue
in the waters even win anything I think
my first reaction was a few of us and
the issue is this is a symbol of a
defeated general I always wanted to
remove I used to dream about blowing it
up of course I wasn’t going to do it but
I would dream about it like in high
school and it was always on my mind that
was the first time I actually put myself
in somebody else’s shoes and then I just
started researching it something will
put out well after the Civil War had
ended by the Daughters of the
Confederacy and the cost of the Lost
Cause the people that lost decided to
put these statues up to send a message
to people just like when that you’re
lessening and even though we lost the
war and the United States won we’re not
coming along and that’s why Robert easel
these arms are folded and he’s looking
north it’s an affront to the idea of
what America was supposed to be post-war
where the monuments for of course the
four million American citizens who were
enslaved beaten tortured raped I mean
that’s what slavery was as Landrieu was
contemplating what to do nine black
parishioners were murdered in the
Charleston AME Church by Dylan Ruth a 21
year old self-proclaimed white
supremacist who posted photos like this
one online
[Music]
the time has come as a result the
Confederate flag flying over the South
Carolina Statehouse was lowered for good
and nationwide there was a reexamination
of Confederate symbols it is
specifically the moment that South
Carolina happened when I said to myself
you know what we can’t wait any more to
do this these issues have to be
confronted but it wasn’t easy it took
our 7 different lawsuits 13 separate
judges I mean people really kicking and
screaming in the spring of 2017 after
the City Council voted to remove the
four statues the first of them came down
there were imminent death threats that
were coming again the reason three of
them were taken down at night was on
advice of security personnel who
basically said it’s harder to get shot
by a sniper at night but there were also
celebrations New Orleans
[Music]
when the final statue of Robert Ely was
removed from its nearly 60-foot column
Landrieu gave a speech that got national
attention these monuments celebrate a
fictional sanitised Confederacy ignoring
the death ignoring the enslavement
ignoring the terror that it actually
stood for
[Applause]
[Music]
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