John Lewis statue replaces Confederate monument

What happened

Workers installed a 12-foot-tall bronze statue of the late Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.) in front of the DeKalb County Courthouse in Decatur, Georgia. The statue of the civil rights icon, who represented the area in Congress for decades, replaces a Confederate monument that stood in the spot for 112 years, until June 2020.

Who said what

The Daughters of the Confederacy erected a 30-foot-tall obelisk outside the courthouse in 1908 as part of its promotion of the "Lost Cause narrative of the Civil War, which downplays or ignores the role of slavery as the war's cause," The New York Times said. It was "one of at least 230 Confederate symbols to be removed, relocated or renamed" amid a push by racial justice advocates following the May 2020 police killing of George Floyd.

Basil Watson, the Jamaica-born artist who sculpted the Lewis statue, was there as it was installed. "It's exciting to see it going up and exciting for the city because of what he represents and what it's replacing," Watson said to The Associated Press. 

What next?

The John Lewis statue will be officially unveiled on Aug. 24.

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