Monument Avenue and the Politics of Protest in Richmond, Virginia |

Driving down Monument Avenue in Richmond, Virginia, one cannot help but admire the beauty of the green mall graced with regal-looking statues. These monuments beautify what is already an aesthetically pleasing boulevard leading from the city outward to its western suburbs. Those who planned the boulevards and its monuments intended them as a celebration of the Confederacy anConfederate war heroes and has been marketed to celebrate the efforts of the South. In recent years, historians and political acivists have attempted to educate a wider public about the history behind the statues: that slavery was a central cause for the Confederacy and that the monuments went up in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century to shore up white supremacy.

Yet, Monument Avenue remains the heart of the city and is central to its self-image and its representation to the world. It is home to many community events, including the annual Monument Avenue 10K Race, the Easter parade, and the world championships for the UCI World cycling championships race in 2015.

While playing an integral role in local life, it has also seen its fair share of dissent and controversy. From protest of the Confederate history of the monuments to the March on Monument, Richmond has made several attempts to redefine this space. On January 14, 2017, days before the inauguration of President Donald Trump, several thousand citizens of Richmond came

together in support of one another and in protest of the impending presidency. Monument Avenue has had the potential to become a space of protest and progress since the erection of the Arthur Ashe monument in 1996. Could the use of March on Monument as a progressive space help redefine and repurpose the meaning of the avenue? .

As a majority African-American city, Richmond discordantly honors white supremacist ideals on the very public Monument Avenue. In the last few decades, Richmonders have attempted to make this space more inclusive since it has been under fire for its racist foundation. This began publicly in July 1996, when the Arthur Ashe statue was unveiled in effort to make Monument Avenue more diverse. The introduction of an African-American to the line of Confederates shocked many in the area, and while a large number of Richmonders welcomed the addition, those seeking to preserve Confederate history were outraged.

Since the erection of the Ashe statue, Monument Avenue has become more of a center for objection and defiance. In recent years, local people have used this space to voice their opinion on current and historical happenings both in Richmond and the world. To name one example, in June 2015, those fighting for equality showed their disagreement with the Confederate symbols by tagging the Jefferson Davis monument with “Black Lives Matter” after white supremacist Dylan Roof’s massacre at African-Americans in Charleston, SC. In September 2017, a pro-Confederate rally took place on Monument Avenue. A small group of Confederate supporters stood on the boulevard presenting Confederate battle flags. Hundreds of counter-protesters filed in to show that they would not stand for a pro-Confederate demonstration in their city. Events like this have begun to turn Monument Avenue into a deeply contested space of counternarratives about the history and meaning of the United States.

[Kaiser image 3 here- Arthur Ashe and American Flag]

One of the most notable protests on Monument Avenue occurred in January 2017. Richmonders took to this space to join together in a peaceful march and used the avenue as a springboard for progressive community ideals. Many local nonprofit organizations supported and sponsored the march, including the Richmond Peace Education Center, Performing Statistics/Art 180, the YWCA of Richmond, the ACLU of Virginia, Equality Virginia, and Girls For a Change. These organizations allowed the March on Monument to occur and showed the support of all different walks of life in the Richmond area. The choice to place this march on Monument Avenue was a statement of justice that both fostered feelings of inclusion and unease.

Families, friends, and individuals old and young united in a group of about 2,000 people to process eight blocks. At the inauguration of President Trump, some people’s very beings were threatened. Trump’s words of oppression brought those in America together in fear, but also defiance. Richmonders carried handmade signs bearing words like “Trump is a Bully,” “I’m Here to Support All Human Life,” and “Richmond Loves All People, Come As You Are.” Nicole Sackley, a professor of history and American Studies at the University of Richmond attended the march with her family. Sackley explained the ambiance of the march, “The march was a very welcoming place. It felt like I was with friendly people. There were a lot of families who were greeting each other… there was a kind of feeling of community.” As the attendees walked down the avenue, they merged their voices, chanting “Work! Work! Together Makes it Work! Equality, inclusion, a unified solution,” and “What do we want? Peace! When do we want it? NOW!” The sense of unity permeated Monument Avenue throughout the whole march.

[Kaiser image 4 here- Donald Trump Is A Disgrace sign]

The protest began with speeches and songs. While Richmond government officials and nonprofit leaders spoke through bullhorns and microphones, the atmosphere was charged with excitement and progressive energy that normally did not inhabit Monument Avenue. Richmonders circled around the monuments, singing songs of peace. The crowd lifted its collective voice in a chorus of “Singing For Our Lives”, “This Land is Your Land,” “This Little Light of Mine,” and other protest songs. These songs may have been taught to us in elementary school, but on this day, they took on a more powerful meaning than ever before in many of the protestors’ lives. Sung in the company of Confederate war heroes, these songs brought forth a feeling of equality that the avenue had not often previously seen.

[Kaiser image 5 here- March photo with flags]

These moments of harmony greeted the uncertain future of a United States run by President Donald Trump with defiance and acceptance. While many did not know what the coming four years would mean for their families, nor their individual liberties, this march intended to show that Richmond would face President Trump’s presidency together. Sackley recalled, “I went to the March on Monument because I wanted to show my children that they lived in a community where all perspectives were valued, that we didn’t say the kinds of things that they had heard Donald Trump say, that people, and citizens, and laws were important…” This gathering on Monument Avenue provided an opportunity for families to teach their children that public spaces can serve as adaptable places of community and development. Not only can American youth stand up for themselves, but they also have the power to change the way things are remembered. The Confederate Monuments provided a background for this gathering, but the racist history was not at the forefront of the minds of those that attended in hopes of equality and inclusion.

Over the last century, the United States has undergone massive shifts in regards to racial incorporation and dialogue; and the March on Monument and other Monument Avenue protests have had a critical hand in an attempt to change the avenue’s characterization as a “white space.” While white spaces are a perceptual category, the existence of the Confederate monuments create an inherently hostile environment for those who do not associate themselves with this racial category. While the March on Monument was an inclusive protest with people of diverse ethnicities in attendance, Monument Avenue may never be able to fully transform from its racist foundation. While the march worked for its intended purpose of peaceful protest that promoted equality, it will take more than a handful of rallies, marches, and cultural events to reconstruct this public space from being a white space. However, these protests could successfully turn Monument Avenue from a site of politics to a political question in itself.