Randy Blythe , lead singer of Lamb of God , has once again publicly expressed his support for the removal of statues of Confederate generals from the Civil War era in Charlottesville, United States.
The monuments in question are statues of Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson , removed last Saturday, the 10th, from the state of Virginia after 97 years of display, according to information from El País . In 2017, the statues were a meeting point for protests by white supremacists opposed to the removal, and James Alex Fields , a young neo-Nazi, ran over protesters from the Black Lives Matter movement, resulting in the death of a 32-year-old woman. The killer was convicted and will serve a life sentence.
In a lengthy Instagram post, Blythe recounted that he went to the city to document the removal of the statues, but arrived after the procedure was already finished. Recalling the racist protests, the musician paid tribute to the victim of the attack. “This delusional young man was so full of hate that he drove his car at full speed into a crowd, injuring 35 people and killing a 32-year-old woman from Virginia,” he wrote. “ Heather Heyer is dead and will never feel the sun on her face again. For what? For a stupid piece of metal and stone? Because other people don't have the same skin color? I will never understand this way of thinking.”
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In the musician's view, the removal of the monuments is not an attempt to erase history; on the contrary, it is a way to seek an "accurate account" of events. "And a far better source of instruction than the statues are the actual letters from the period we are studying. We can and should learn from these writings," he continued before quoting General Lee himself, who suggested "following the examples of those nations that have striven to obliterate the marks of civil strife" instead of keeping the statues.
Following the protests against structural racism after the death of George Floyd in 2020, Blythe suggested keeping vandalized statues in museums, but without restoring the pieces. "Most of these monuments were erected during the Jim Crow era, when segregationist laws were in effect. And they were placed there to consolidate the position of whites in our society," she stated at the time .
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