By Associated Press - Wednesday, March 6, 2019

RICHMOND, Va. (AP) - The American Civil Liberties Union of Virginia has called on Gov. Ralph Northam to remove the Robert E. Lee statue.

The group made the request Wednesday during a public hearing on regulations governing protests at the statue on Richmond’s Monument Avenue.

News outlets reported that ACLU spokesman Bill Farrar urged the governor to “show his commitment to racial equity” by taking action immediately to remove what he called a “towering racist symbol.”

Last month, Northam pledged to work toward racial reconciliation after a scandal over a racist yearbook photo and his admission of wearing blackface in the 1980s prompted calls for his resignation.

Farrar proposed moving the statue to the Appomattox Court House National Historical Park, which memorializes Lee’s surrender and the end of the Civil War.

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