Confederate Collective Memory and the Robert E. Lee Monument in Richmond, Virginia

• In Event: Mediating Identities: Race, Class, and Gender

Abstract

This paper focuses on the Robert E. Lee statue in Richmond, Virginia as a case study of how views of Confederate statues and the corresponding collective memory of the Civil War have changed over time. Combining a historical analysis of the erection and early reception of this statue with an examination of how it has been discussed in the contemporary media landscape, this paper argues that competing understandings of the statue as either a monument or a memorial have fueled acrimony, reflecting and reinforcing current polarization in American society, which has prevented the opportunity for open discourse.

Author

• Chloe Lynn Nurik, Annenberg School for Communication / U of Pennsylvania