The third of the four Confederate statues that Mayor Landrieu has sought to remove came down late Tuesday evening, May 16. Onlookers both supporting and against the statue’s removal came out on Tuesday night to the Esplanade entrance of City Park to view the removal.
The scene at the statue’s removal was compared to Mardi Gras, with people lined up behind barricades eating, drinking, and shouting. For many, the removal was a cause of celebration with statue protesters, staying on the scene all night until the statue came down. For others that supported the statue, many people broke out into protests when the cranes arrived while another group started chanting “Where’s Mitch?” in reference to Mayor Mitch Landrieu.
With the removal of the last statue, Gen. Robert E. Lee, still to be announced, New Orleanians remain more divided than ever. While monument supporters claim that to remove the statue is to remove history, Mayor Landrieu states that “While we must honor our history, we will not allow the Confederacy to be put on a pedestal in the heart of New Orleans.”
