The last monument to come down was Robert E. Lee. He was situated on a tall column in Lee Circle facing North. As there are streetcars running on Lee Circle and as the column is so high, on Thursday night the city announced that Lee would be taken down in broad daylight the next day (May 19). Works started in the evening and it was expected that the event would be over at 5 p.m.
I arrived at 3 p.m. and it looked as if it would not take long anymore. However, the statue came down at around 6 p.m. When I arrived there was a party going on. People had gathered to watch the fun, playing music from a boombox, doing double dutch, dancing. Others had brought chairs and had spent the day, the media was present. But, there were no confederate flags, no yelling, no discussions, the atmosphere was very pleasant.
It was a long wait. It was very hot. Once in a while the crowd was energized by chants such as: "Take down Robert E. Lee and all symbols of white supremacy!" Everyone was very excited.
And when it finally happened, when the statue was lifted off its pedestal, the crowd cheered and applauded.
In the end the Robert E. Lee was carted off in a Budget truck.
And I must admit that I am very proud of my favorite US-city that it was possible to make this happen.
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