The Speaker of the US House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi has sent a letter to the House-Senate panel in charge of the National Statuary Hall collection in the Capitol.
Pelosi is demanding that the statues of 11 Confederate soldiers and officials that she said “pay homage to hate, not heritage”, be taken down.
The racial killing of Africa-American, George Floyd by a white police officer had caused a globally protests with majority of US politicians calling for a total eradication of racism in the country.
The Speaker described the halls of Congress as “the very heart of our democracy” while insisting that the statues should embody Americans’ “highest ideals” not men “who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end”.
In a tweet on Wednesday night, the lawmaker added, “The statues which fill the halls of Congress should reflect our highest ideals as Americans.
“Today, I am once again calling for the removal from the U.S. Capitol of the 11 statues representing Confederate soldiers and officials. These statues pay homage to hate, not heritage.”
Pelosi’s letter is the latest move in the wake of global protests against racism, to remove statues of those associated with perpetrating it.
In recent days in the US and across the globe, statues of people who were known as “slave masters” have been toppled, removed or covered.
