CoonmanNortham
Governor of Virginia, another Dem Great White Hope. He won election by calling his Publican opponent Ed Gillespie a racist, but then, don't they all?...has called for the removal of the Jefferson Davis Memorial arch at Fort Monroe, saying its continued presence has an "adverse effect" on the historic property and urged the authority’s board of trustees to initiate steps to take it down.
Somehow, I think there's never gonna be a Ralph Northam gate anywhere.
In a letter presented Thursday to the Fort Monroe Authority Board of Trustees, Chief of Staff Clark Mercer relayed the governor’s stance, asking an eight-member panel and those ex-officio members present to take necessary steps to remove the arch and all references to the Jefferson Davis Memorial Park, located at Bernard and Ruckman road intersection near a 500-yard terreplein.
The archway entrance to the Jefferson Davis Memorial Park was built on the ramparts in 1956 by the Army on behalf of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. The group paid $10,000 to build the 50-foot wrought iron structure.
"This process will require a detailed review ... along with significant public engagement. I believe it is appropriate," Mercer said, reading Northam’s letter. "I feel strongly that a memorial glorifying the President of the Confederacy has no place here, especially given our efforts this year to commemorate the 400th anniversary of enslaved Africans landing at Old Point Comfort.
Northam’s position, which some present called bold, argued while the arch and park are listed as contributing elements to the Fort Monroe National Historic Landmark designation, they "were constructed after the landmark’s period of historic significance ended," his letter stated.
"some"
Members of authority’s board, after some debate, voted unanimously to take steps to have the arch removed, a protracted process given the federal constraints facing the historic landmark district.
The vote took place during the second day of a two-day retreat with a tour of select spots on the 565-acre former military post that included a visit to the archway.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy conceived the original project to erect a structure in honor of Jefferson Davis, authority officials said. Davis, the former U.S. Secretary of War and president of the confederacy, was incarcerated for treason within a casemate cell, a mere walking distance from the archway and park.