6-Month Reprieve For Lee Statue Removal. Wednesday May 3, 2017.

Tuesday evening Judge Richard E. Moore granted the injunction, saying the Lee statue is a war memorial, and therefore protected by state law. It's okay to move forward with renaming Lee and Jackson parks.

City Councilor Kristin Szakos was the first in 2010 to call for tearing down the Confederate Monuments because of the Jim Crow crack-down in the 1920s Progressive Era when the monuments were erected. "The removal of the Lee statue is just a temporary injunction, so for six months we can't actually move it," said Szakos. ("Injunction halts Lee statue removal" by Chris Suarez, May 3, 2017, Daily Progress).

This afternoon Councilor Bob Fenwick explained that, if the Lee statue were a memorial to an individual hero, it could be removed. But nobody knows anything about Lee other than the Civil War. So it's protected under numerous laws as a memorial to a war. Fenwick said he used his vote as leverage for the Tonsler field house and other projects. While the statue removal is blocked, Fenwick's compromise moves forward.

Near the end of the interview on the Schilling Show, why does Fenwick use disturbing images of past atrocities, like Army experiments to give blacks a sexually transmitted disease? So we'll feel something that is not affecting anyone today. If it is your reality right now, you should feel horrible. But those emotions are causing poor judgment, like a desire to erase parts of the history that contain the bad feelings. Link to this podcast is not yet available.

Republican candidate for the June 13th primary for Virginia Governor, Corey Stewart has received national attention and criticism for his consistent position on historic preservation. His podcast First Hour of the show is available online.

"Is Charlottesville Southern?" That was the C-ville Weekly cover story 15 years ago. Online searches do not find the article. But there is a 57 comment discussion of how C-ville Weekly has gone downhill since Editor Hawes Spencer split off Jan. 2002 and created The Hook.

Are we southern? Today you would have to say no. In 2002 the talk was all about tolerance for eccentric people and traditions. The Northerner must have a rational reason to keep a statue. The Southerner needs only to know that someone desires to keep it.

Since Lee and Jackson were the first public City parks, the Charlottesville park system was segregated. Maybe that's why there are so many parks. Go to a park today and feel like you would have a hundred years ago? Don't forget the past. But try to feel the present and live in the moment.

Timeline of Park Acquisitions

1917 Lee Park
1919 Jackson Park
1921 Belmont Park
1926 McIntire Park
1926 Washington Park
1930 Quarry Park
1945 Meade Park
1946 Tonsler Park
1949 Fifeville Park
1952 Rives Park
1952 Greenleaf Park
1955 Forest Hills Park
1960 Rothwell Park
1963 Meadowcreek Park
1965 Azalea Park
1965 Greenbrier Park
1970 Pen Park
1971 Jordan Park
1974 McGuffey Park
1974 Riverview Park
1975 Northeast Park
1979 Bailey Park
1979 Ivy Creek Natural Area
1980 Starr Hill Park
1990 Darden Towe Park
1999 Ragged Mountain [reservoir land]

Case of Peter Norman, white person, deleted from history of the 1968 Olympics in Mexico City. He didn't raise his fist because he didn't have a glove. But he was wearing the anti-discrimination button and suffered in Australia more than the black track athletes John Carlos and Tommie Smith suffered in America. Norman was recognized in recent years.

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