{"id":87943,"date":"2017-10-29T16:13:10","date_gmt":"2017-10-29T20:13:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=87943"},"modified":"2017-10-29T16:13:10","modified_gmt":"2017-10-29T20:13:10","slug":"george-washingtons-own-church-takes-down-his-plaques","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/?p=87943","title":{"rendered":"George Washington’s Own Church Takes Down His Plaques"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A church voted to remove a plaque for George Washington and another for Robert E. Lee. Wikimedia Commons<\/p><\/div>\n

George Washington’s church will remove his memorial as it makes some feel ‘unsafe’<\/h2>\n

BY JOSH MAGNESS
\nMiami Herald<\/p>\n

For two decades, George Washington attended Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia.<\/p>\n

Now, the episcopalian place of worship is saying it will\u00a0take down plaques in honor of Washington and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee<\/a>, who also attended the church, because they make some \u201cfeel unsafe or unwelcome.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Vestry has unanimously decided that the plaques create a distraction in our worship space and may create an obstacle to our identity as a welcoming church, and an impediment to our growth and to full community with our neighbors,\u201d the church wrote in an Oct. 26 statement that was signed by 13 members of its governing council. \u201cAccordingly, the plaques will be relocated no later than the summer of 2018.\u201d<\/p>\n

In its letter, Christ Church wrote that \u201csome choose not to return\u201d because of the twin plaques, which were constructed in 1870, just two months after the death of Lee.<\/p>\n

The plaques, as reported by the Washington Times, are made of stone and\u00a0emblazoned with the words \u201cIn memory of George Washington\u201d<\/a>\u00a0and \u201cIn memory of Robert E. Lee\u201d in gold letters. They are placed on both sides of the altar.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe understand that both Washington and Lee lived in times much different than our own, and that each man, in addition to his public persona, was a complicated human being, and like all of us, a child of God,\u201d the church wrote. \u201cToday, the legacy of slavery and of the Confederacy is understood differently than it was in 1870. For some, Lee symbolizes the attempt to overthrow the Union and to preserve slavery.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cToday our country is trying once again to come to grips with the history of slavery and the subsequent disenfranchisement of people of color. The Vestry believes that the memorial plaques to George Washington and Robert E. Lee should be considered together.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to The Washington Times, Washington bought pew No. 5 at Christ Church when its doors first opened in 1773 and would attend it frequently for another 20 years.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still unknown what new home the plaques will have by next summer, the church wrote, but a committee will look at different options and make a recommendation in April.<\/p>\n

Inspired by conversation on the topic, Christ Church also wrote that it plans to organize a group of parishioners that will play a role in \u201cdeveloping a narrative for Christ Church that spotlights many of the parishioners and experiences that give us our identity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis decision is a beginning,\u201d the church wrote, \u201cnot an end.\u201d<\/p>\n

In August,\u00a0Baltimore quietly removed four Confederate statues in the middle of the night<\/a>, according to The New York Times. That happened shortly after clashes between white supremacists and anti-racist protestors rocked the town of Charlottesville, Virginia, which decided to remove a statue of Lee.<\/p>\n

And on the Tuesday following the tension in Charlottesville \u2014 which CNN reported\u00a0left one dead and 19 more injured<\/a>\u00a0when a car hit a crowd of protestors \u2014\u00a0activists in Durham, North Carolina, tore down a Confederate statue there.<\/a><\/p>\n

Shortly after the violence in Charlottesville, President Trump himself\u00a0questioned where activists would draw the line<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey were there to protest the taking down of the statue of Robert E. Lee,\u201d Trump said, as reported by the Hill. \u201cThis week it’s Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down. I wonder is it George Washington next week and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after? You know, you really do have to ask yourself, where does it stop?\u201d<\/p>\n

___
\nhttp:\/\/www.miamiherald.com\/news\/nation-world\/national\/article181476026.html<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

George Washington’s church will remove his memorial as it makes some feel ‘unsafe’ BY JOSH MAGNESS Miami Herald For two decades, George Washington attended Christ Church in Alexandria, Virginia. Now, the episcopalian place of worship is saying it will\u00a0take down … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-87943","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87943","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=87943"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/87943\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=87943"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=87943"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stateofthenation2012.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=87943"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}