House Of Representatives Votes To Remove Confederate Statues From Capitol Building

The House of Representatives voted Wednesday to remove statues honoring Confederate fighters, as well as a bust of a Supreme Court justice who wrote a damaging opinion on slavery, from the U.S. Capitol Building, The Associated Press reported.

In a 305-113 vote, in which 72 Republicans joined their Democrat colleagues in voting in favor of the bill, according to Slate, the chamber voted to direct the Architect of the Capitol — the federal agency in charge of maintaining, operating, developing and preserving the building and the artifacts within — to identify and eventually remove at least 10 statues of Confederate generals from Statuary Hall.

Also included in the bill is language to remove a bust of former Supreme Court Chief Justice Roger B. Taney. Taney, in 1857, wrote the Dred Scott decision, which declared that Blacks, whether slave or free, could not be American citizens.

Further, the bill would require the removal, within 30 days, of three avowed white supremacists. One of those belongs to former U.S. Vice President John C. Calhoun of South Carolina, a staunch defender of slavery, segregation and white supremacy. Another belongs to former North Carolina Governor Charles Aycock who, among other things, steadfastly opposed the right of African Americans to vote. The last belongs to James Clarke, a former Arkansas governor and senator who advocated for white supremacy.

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said, prior to the vote, that the ideals of white supremacy and the ideals of freedom are not compatible.

“Defenders and purveyors of sedition, slavery, segregation and white supremacy have no place in this temple of liberty,” he said.

Similarly, California Democrat Barbara Lee said that men who took up arms against the United States do not deserve to be honored in its halls of government.

“It’s past time we end the glorification of men who committed treason against the United States in a concerted effort to keep African Americans in chains,” she said.

However, Lynne M. Jackson, a descendant of Dred Scott, said from her home in Missouri that she opposed removing the bust of Taney.

“I’m not really a fan of wiping things out,” she said, adding that she would prefer instead to see a bust of her ancestor added to Statuary Hall.

The bill will now go to the Senate, where its future is uncertain in the Republican-dominated chamber. Further, bills calling for the removal of the Confederate statues and the Taney busts have already been introduced there.