Richmond's Stonewall Jackson Statue Removal Has the Public Weighing In

On Wednesday, work crews in Richmond, Virginia removed a statue of Gen. Stonewall Jackson from the pedestal on which it has stood since 1890 in a move that has generated plenty of discussion on social media. The statue's removal had followed the June removal of a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in the city and had been ordered by Mayor Levar Stoney amid a push for such monuments to controversial people of this country's past to be taken down.

In front of a large crowd people, work crews began the delicate removal process, which took several hours at 1 p.m., with the gathered crowd cheering them along. Speaking with the Associated Press, Eli Swann, a resident of Richmond for nearly 25 years, said he felt "an overwhelming sense of gratitude" and said the removal was a sign that "change is coming about." Brent Holmes added that "this is long overdue."

The statue of Jackson is just one of roughly a dozen Confederate statues on municipal land scheduled to be removed in Richmond. In recent weeks, several dozen Confederate symbols across the United States have been ordered to be removed, with those statues including representations of Christopher Columbus, Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, and others. The removals, including the removal of the Jackson statue in Richmond, have sparked heated discussions on social media, with many applauding the move while others still petition for such statues to remain standing, arguing that removing them is erasing history. Keep scrolling to see what social media has to say.