To the editor:

I am an Alexandrian who opposes white nationalism. As such, I protest with Christ Church and Grassroots Alexandria on the second and fourth Sundays each month. I am concerned that yet another monument glorifying the pro-slavery Civil War is being erected in Richmond. The statue, “The Angel of the Lost Cause,” promotes the myth that the Civil War was about something other than slavery. The statue is one of 12 women in a planned monument to Virginia women.

As Alexandria Times readers are well aware, the South was blanketed with Civil War monuments 100 years ago to remind African-Americans to obey Jim Crow laws. These monuments, like the “whites only” signs that accompanied them, belong only in museums or educational displays. Imagine if we not only left “whites only” signs in place — we wouldn’t want to erase history — but started adding new ones. Because of this history, Richard Spencer and his white supremacist, neo-Nazi supporters rally around these monuments.

The myth that the Civil War was a noble lost cause, instead of a war to preserve slavery, is one of the biggest erasures of history ever. Alexandrians are working to share this history. We are working to expose, and oppose, the neo-Nazi agenda. You can help. Please protest with us on the second and fourth Sunday each month, at 12:30 p.m., at King and Patrick streets.

Please write to Governor Ralph Northam: remove the monuments. Please speak up, as often as possible. Alexandrians, all Alexandrians, are invited to show Richard Spencer that his continued presence in Old Town serves only to build opposition to his toxic, anti-democracy agenda.

-Jonathan Krall, Alexandria