After a couple of hours of passionate debate, delegates passed a bill dealing with monuments, including Confederate statues.
The bill passed 70 to 28. It now goes to the Senate, where it may also spark intense debate.
House Bill 2174 would prohibit relocating, removing or altering statues, monuments or plaques on public property that are in honor of historical military, civil rights, natural disasters or accidents, and Native American events, figures, and organizations.
The West Virginia Monument and Memorial Protection Act of 2021 does set out steps for the West Virginia State Historic Preservation Office to allow removal or changes under certain circumstances.
“This is not a racist bill,” said Government Organization Chairman Brandon Steele, R-Raleigh. “This bill sets up a process.”
Yelling into a microphone while making closing statements on the bill, Steele said, “It’s good for the people to have a process by which old wounds can be closed, wounds can be healed and we can communicate with one another.”
Delegate Chris Phillips, R-Barbour, said he chose to sponsor the bill after watching movements to remove monuments across the country, moves to “eliminate history sometimes unthinkingly, in my opinion.”
“I’ve witnessed what we’ve had happening in this country. The cancel culture is literally eliminating culture before our eyes.”
Lengthy debate in the House focused on Confederate statues, particularly the Stonewall Jackson statue at a corner of the Capitol and a Stonewall Jackson bust inside the building. The Confederate General was born in Clarksburg, Harrison County, before West Virginia became a state.
Some delegates talked about having to pass by the bust of Jackson inside the Capitol on a daily basis. The bust, donated by the Daughters of the Confederacy, lists Jackson as a “Military Genius,” “Brave Soldier” and “Noble Christian.”
“Why did this bill come up right now?” asked Delegate Jim Barach, D-Kanawha. “We know it’s because we started to have conversations about the Stonewall Jackson Statue right here on the Capitol grounds.
“It’s a symbol of racism, slavery and treason. Stonewall Jackson was a traitor against this country.”
Delegate Sean Hornbuckle, D-Cabell, agreed that the topic was an outgrowth of the protests about systemic racism across the country last summer. Hornbuckle is one of just a few Black members of the House of Delegates.
“Why this? Why now?” Hornbuckle asked. “Why is this priority? All of us witnessed back in the summer our country at a boiling point.”
He said when many of the statues under discussion were first erected, “They were a symbol to keep people in their place.”
Of the bill, he said, “It’s the message that we’re sending with this.” He said that amounts to, “We’re going to keep these repressive monuments up.”
Democrats rose one by one to speak against the bill, saying it amounted to a defense of Confederate statues by establishing protective layers of red tape at the state level and preventing local governing bodies from making their own decisions.
Few Republicans spoke at all. With a supermajority in the House, that’s generally been the rule this year. Republicans have the numbers to pass what they want and don’t need to spend time trying to persuade their colleagues.
One Republican who did speak was Delegate Mark Zatezalo, R-Hancock. He said the bill would make clear the process for public debate and action about monuments.
“Do we want the statue of Abraham Lincoln taken out because someone doesn’t like it?” Zatezalo asked, referring to the “Lincoln Walks at Midnight” statue in front of the Capitol.
“I think what it is is to have a thoughtful conversation about what we can take down and what we won’t take down. We can have that conversation knowing what the historic context is for it all. I think this bill furthers the conversation and gets us to a place where we can make decisions.”
Hornbuckle disagreed, saying those conversations should be local.
“This bill before us to day is going to cut off discussion,” he said. “It’s going to cut off discussion about these monuments and statues because it’s going to take away local control.”
Delegate Chad Lovejoy, D-Cabell, said most of the statues under discussion were erected from 1900 to 1920, the Jim Crow era, or 1954 to 1968, the Civil Rights era.
“Is it not a legitimate question to talk about when a lot of these monuments we’re talking about here were put in?” Lovejoy asked.
Decisions about what to do with those status, Lovejoy said, should be made by the citizens of Lewisburg or Kingwood or Huntington, communities across the state.
“Or should it be made by a hundred politicians in Charleston?” Lovejoy asked.
Delegate Danielle Walker, D-Monongalia, made an impassioned speech about what the bill symbolizes. Walker, the only Black woman in the House, said she has often enjoyed fellowship with her fellow delegates.
But in discussions about this bill, she said, she has felt differently.
“I do my best to listen without bias. I wonder who is this bill protecting. What is it promoting? Hate is not heritage,” Walker said.
“How is this moving our state forward? Unknown. But who is this helping, and who is this hurting?”
Walker urged her colleagues to vote against the bill.
“The red button will stop the hate. The red button will elevate the voices who oppose this bill. The red button will acknowledge that slavery was wrong and is wrong.”
Walker said, “When will racism become extinct? The battle is ongoing every day.”