U.S. Capitol has Three Times as Many Confederate Statues as It Does of Black People

Following the unrest in Charlottesville, the calls for the removal of Confederate monuments and symbols continue to grow. As The Beat DC reported yesterday, some members, such as Congressman Bennie Thompson (D-MS), have started to sound the alarm about the Confederate statues in the U.S. Capitol. And Wednesday night, Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) tweeted, "I will be introducing a bill to remove Confederate statues from the US Capitol building. This is just one step. We have much work to do." Well, they have a good reason. According to records maintained by the Architect of the Capitol, the WaPo found that there are three times as many statues of Confederates than statues of Black Americans in the entire complex. In Statuary Hall alone, 12 of the statues memorialize people who were Confederate politicians or soldiers. Not a single Black American is present in that collection. Two states -- Mississippi and South Carolina -- are represented exclusively by Confederate figures. Since the 2000 law passed by Congress allowing states to switch out statues, Alabama replaced Confederate officer Jabez Curry's statue with one of Helen Keller. Florida is in the process of removing Confederate general Edmund Kirby Smith but no replacement has been chosen. WaPo has more here.