In a Capitol Building that still has statues in honor of Jefferson Davis, Barbara Rose Johns will be on the first floor of the U.S. Capitol in the same position the Lee statue formerly occupied. The Johns statue now joins Sojourner Truth, Mary McLeod Bethune, and Rosa Parks as one of four Black women honored in the U.S. Capitol in statue form.
“The Commonwealth of Virginia will now be properly represented by an actual patriot who embodied the principle of liberty and justice for all, and not a traitor who took up arms against the United States to preserve the brutal institution of chattel slavery,” said House Democratic Leader Hakeem Jeffries, standing on stage at the U.S. Capitol on December 16.
The line earned applause, and Leader Jeffries was cheered loudly before saying a word as he approached the stage—the event: A dedication of the Barbara Rose Johns statue in the U.S. Capitol. Johns will replace a statue of Robert E. Lee as one of two statues that represent Virginia in the U.S. Capitol. The Lee statue was removed from the Crypt on the first floor of the U.S. Capitol in 2020.
“On April 23, 1951, a 16-year-old Barbara Johns led a walkout of students at the Robert Russa Moton High School in Farmville, Virginia, to protest school segregation and the discriminatory education conditions of Black students. Her courage forced this country to reckon with its conscience on a scale much larger than she ever could have imagined,” said Sen. Mark Warner at the December 16 dedication ceremony.
“I’m proud to unveil Barbara Johns’ statue in the U.S. Capitol, where she will represent the Commonwealth of Virginia and be recognized for the vital role she played in ending school segregation,” he added.
Read the entire story by Lauren Victoria Burke, a BlackPressUSA Newswire Contributor here.
