In a move to remove symbols commemorating the Confederacy from military-related facilities, a Confederate memorial at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia is set to be removed. Despite a recent demand from over 40 Republican congressmen to halt the dismantling and removal of the monument, the decision stands. Safety fencing has been installed around the memorial, and the removal process is expected to be completed by December 22, according to the Arlington National Cemetery.

The decision to remove the Confederate memorial disregards the objections of Virginia Governor Glenn Youngkin, who plans to relocate the monument to the New Market Battlefield State Historical Park in the Shenandoah Valley. Governor Youngkin's spokesperson, Macaulay Porter, stated that the governor believes the park will provide an appropriate setting for Moses Ezekiel's legacy as a legendary sculptor and Virginian.

The monument, unveiled in 1914, features a bronze woman standing on a 32-foot pedestal, symbolizing the American South. She is depicted with a laurel wreath, a plow stock, and a pruning hook, and there is a Biblical inscription at her feet that reads, "They have beat their swords into plough-shares and their spears into pruning hooks." The statue also includes depictions of a Black woman referred to as “Mammy” holding the child of a white officer, as well as an enslaved man following his owner to war.

This removal comes after an independent commission recommended that the memorial be taken down as part of its final report to Congress on renaming military bases and assets that commemorate the Confederacy. The commission's recommendation, made in 2022, aligns with a Congressional mandate passed in 2020 that calls for the removal of all Confederate memorials by January 1, 2024.

However, more than 40 House Republicans have contested the commission's authority to make such recommendations. In a letter to Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, these lawmakers argued that the memorial symbolizes reconciliation and national unity rather than the Confederacy. They called for the monument to remain until the end of the fiscal year 2024 appropriations process. Representative Andrew Clyde of Georgia, who has been leading the effort to block the removal, did not respond to immediate requests for comment.

The Confederate memorial's removal follows the broader initiative by the Department of Defense, prompted by the 2020 George Floyd protests, to rename military installations that were originally named after Confederate soldiers. Fort Bragg, for example, has been renamed Fort Liberty. The movement to remove Confederate monuments gained traction during the nationwide Black Lives Matter demonstrations that followed Floyd's killing, which drew attention to Army installations with Confederate ties.

The Arlington National Cemetery has confirmed that preparations for the memorial's removal and relocation have been completed. The bronze elements of the memorial will be relocated, while the granite base and foundation will remain to protect the surrounding graves. The Confederate memorial's removal serves as another step in the ongoing effort to address the legacy of the Confederacy in the United States.