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| Statue of the Confederation of General Stonewall Jackson |
Militarymedia.net - The Virginia Military Institute removed a statue of Confederate General Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson early Monday. A small group witnessed the bronze figure being lifted from its pedestal in front of the VMI barracks.
This historic figure was moved from the campus in Lexington, Va., To his future home at the Virginia Civil War Museum and New Market Battlefield State Historical Park.
The statue was sculpted by Moses Ezekiel, a class member in 1866, and donated to VMI in 1912. And after standing for more than a century, the VMI board supported its removal in October.
Confederate statues across the US came under attack during the summer as the country grapples with racial injustice. VMI, the country's oldest state-backed military university, was in the spotlight after a Washington Post article accused black cadets and alumni of "relentless racism."
The university was reluctant to remove the statue. Jackson was a professor at VMI before joining the Confederation in 1861. Many of the cadets at the institute served as training instructors at Camp Lee when the Civil War began and others served and died on behalf of the Confederation.
Former school superintendent, retired Army General J.H. Binford Peay III, resigned shortly after an investigation into the allegations was announced. The interim supervisor, retired Major General Cedric T. Wins, is the first African-American to take the position, The Associated Press reported last month.
"VMI does not define itself by this statue and that is why this step is appropriate. We are defined by our unique education system and the quality and character of the graduates the Institute produces," Wins, a 1985 VMI graduate, said in a news release. "Our graduates embody the values of honor, respect, courtesy, self-discipline and professionalism. That's how we will continue to be defined."
