An independent commission will recommend the dismantling of an iconic and controversial Confederate statue in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, in a report to be presented to the US Congress later this month, a manager confirmed to AFP on Wednesday.
This document will mark the end of the work of this commission, which has already recommended renaming nine military bases with the name of secessionist officers, who fought in defense of slavery during the Civil War (1861-1865).
In this latest report, the commission recommends changing the name of an additional thousand properties, including two military ships or sports fields belonging to the army, the vice president of the commission, Ty Seidule, explained to AFP on Wednesday.
A woman adorned with a laurel wreath
The statue to the glory of the Confederate States in Arlington National Cemetery, erected in 1914, represents a woman adorned with a laurel wreath, an allegory of the South of the United States before the Civil War.
“At the foot of the statue, there are two slaves who seem happy with their fate and this does not show enough the monstrosity of slavery. It is a problem,” Ty Seidule justified.
If the independent commission recommends the dismantling of this memorial statue, the graves of secessionist soldiers will instead remain in Arlington Cemetery, where American military heroes rest.
The final decision will rest with the Pentagon.
“The law is very clear on this issue, we have no right, and we do not want to move these bodies buried there for more than a hundred years,” insisted the vice president of the commission.
The final decision on renaming all sites and assets will rest with the Pentagon. The total estimated cost of the operation is $62 million, the commission calculated.
This report comes against a backdrop of rising awareness in the United States following the death of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, even if the issue of places honoring Confederate generals remains a sensitive issue there.
Former Republican President Donald Trump had thus vetoed a defense budget in 2020 that provided for the creation of the commission, a veto finally annulled by Congress.
Source: BFM TV
