The city administration under Mayor Mitch Landrieu (Mary's brother, Moon's son) with 6-1 support of the City Council decided to get rid of four statues commemorating the lives and values of Confederate Civil War heroes
and a post bellum uprising against the Union's reconstruction program.
On December 15, 2015, Wynton Marsalis explained his reasons for advocating removal in The Times-Picayune: "When one surveys the accomplishments of our local heroes across time from Iberville and Bienville, to Andrew Jackson, from Mahalia Jackson, to Anne Rice and Fats Domino, from Wendell Pierce, to John Besh and Jonathan Batiste, what did Robert E. Lee do to merit his distinguished position?
He fought for the enslavement of a people against our national army fighting for their freedom; killed more Americans than any opposing general in history; made no attempt to defend or protect this city; and even more absurdly, he never even set foot in Louisiana. In the heart of the most progressive and creative cultural city in America, why should we continue to commemorate this legacy?
Marsalis's reasoning is credited as being the decisive argument that convinced Landrieu. The Charleston slayings in June were considered a tipping point.
Council member Stacy Head cast the only vote against taking down the monuments, saying the action would create more division and not solve the city's real problems."It will not improve the socioeconomic balance of the city," she said. "If it would make the city more color blind, if it would create more balance, I would sacrifice almost any physical object to get us to that point."
After two years of battling in federal court the Fifth Circuit cleared the way and the removals began. Protesters from both sides demonstrated in public. Threats of violence were made against the removal contractor. Frank Stewart, a local businessman, published a two page ad in the Advocate opposing removal and criticizing Landrieu.
The Liberty Monument, an obelisk commemorating the 1874 uprising, was first to go on April 24th. It had been moved once before and was situated in 2017 on Iberville between One Canal Place and a flood wall.
Then Jefferson Davis was removed from the intersection of Jeff Davis Parkway and Canal Street on May 11th The street name has not yet been changed, but can it be long?
P.G.T. Beauregard lost his spot in front of city park on May 17th.
General Robert E. Lee was removed on Friday, May 19th.
When he is gone will the city rename the traffic circle? It was Tivoli Circle until 1884. The renaming ceremony in 1884 was attended by Jefferson Davis, PGT Beauregard and Lee's two daughters. Lee had died in 1870.
"Ordinance No. 4064, A.S. -- Adopted July 31, 1877, reads as follows: "SEC 3. Be it further ordained, etc., that the ground within the inclosure (sic) to be so improved, shall be dedicated to the memory of General Robert E. Lee, and as soon as the work is commenced shall thereafter be known as 'Lee Place,' but the name of the outer or street portion shall still be preserved under the designation of 'Tivoli Circle.' "
The removals took place in the dark of early morning to avoid problems. (The original removal contractor had received death threats and withdrew from the contract when his car was burned up.) The removal crews were helmeted, armored and protected by police. All four monuments will be held in storage pending an expected move to an undetermined museum at some undetermined date.
The Beauregard statue and the pedestal of the Davis statue were spotted in an outdoor city lot and a photo circulated on social media on May 17th.
Plenty of other monuments remain around the state to Confederate leaders. Even LSU's Kirby Smith dormitory is named for a career Army officer who became a confederate general.
On Monday May 15 after hours of heated debate, the Louisiana House approved a bill to protect Confederate monuments statewide. It goes next to the Senate, where two earlier such bills died without a vote. Even it it passes there it could face a veto by the Governor.