Stonewall Jackson's Great-Great-Grandsons Weigh In On His Statue (ICYMI)

RICHMOND, VA — When Jack Christian and Warren Christian were growing up in Richmond, there was no mistaking their great-great-grandfather, one Thomas Jonathan Jackson. There he was, always, literally much larger than life, sitting atop his beloved warhorse Little Sorrel at the prominent intersection of Boulevard and Monument Avenue. Always the famous Confederate general. Always Stonewall Jackson.

While debate swirls in Virginia and across the country about whether to honor Confederate leaders like Jackson and Gen. Robert E. Lee — whose statue in Charlottesville was the focus of deadly weekend violence — the Jackson descendants have made up their minds on the issue. In an open letter to Richmond Mayor Levar Stoney published Wednesday by Slate, they not only advocate for the removal of their great-great-grandfather's likeness but also for the removal of the other three Confederate statues on Monument Avenue, which is on the National Register of Historic Places.

"While we are not ashamed of our great-great-grandfather, we are ashamed to benefit from white supremacy while our black family and friends suffer," the Christians wrote in the letter. "We are ashamed of the monument." (For more local news, click here to sign up for real-time news alerts. Also, like us on Facebook, and if you have an iPhone, click here to get the free Patch iPhone app.)

Also in the letter, the brothers say the Monument Avenue statues, which also include Lee, Gen. J.E.B Stuart and Confederacy President Jefferson Davis, are "overt symbols of racism and white supremacy, and the time is long overdue for them to depart from public display."

Their letter came after last weekend's white supremacist rally in Charlottesville to protest the removal of a Lee statue. Marchers, many shouting racist slogans and carrying tiki torches, ultimately clashed with counter-protesters. Heather Heyer, 32, was killed after a man drove his car through a crowd. Two State Police troopers monitoring the situation from the air died when their helicopter crashed.

"While we do not purport to speak for all of Stonewall’s kin, our sense of justice leads us to believe that removing the Stonewall statue and other monuments should be part of a larger project of actively mending the racial disparities that hundreds of years of white supremacy have wrought," they wrote. "We hope other descendants of Confederate generals will stand with us."

One person who doesn't stand with them is the president of the United States, Donald Trump, who on Thursday tweeted that removals of Confederate statues are "foolish," adding he's "(s)ad to see the history and culture of our great country being ripped apart with the removal of our beautiful statues and monuments."

Wednesday night, though, Stoney, the Richmond mayor, had a different take. He issued a statement saying he has instructed a hand-picked commission to explore the removal of the four Confederate statues on iconic Monument Avenue in the state's capital city. He previously formed the commission to look at ways to preserve the statues by adding context with things such as plaques.

"While we had hoped to use this process to educate Virginians about the history behind these monuments, the events of the last week may have fundamentally changed our ability to do so by revealing their power to serve as a rallying point for division and intolerance and violence," Stoney said in the statement. "... Effective immediately, the Monument Avenue Commission will include an examination of the removal and/or relocation of some or all of the confederate statues."

His statement came the same day Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared he now believes Confederate statues throughout the state should be removed and relocated to places such as museums. He called them "a barrier to progress, inclusion and equality in Virginia."

Jackson's great-great-grandsons certainly would agree.

"The people who descended on Charlottesville last weekend were there to make a naked show of force for white supremacy," they wrote. "To them, the Robert E. Lee statue is a clear symbol of their hateful ideology. The Confederate statues on Monument Avenue are, too—especially Jackson, who faces north, supposedly as if to continue the fight."

Photo: Steve Helber, Associated Press