FORT MYERS, Fla. -- The Lee County chapter of the NAACP is strengthening its push to remove all signs of the Confederacy in Lee County.
This includes the statue of General Robert E. Lee in downtown Fort Myers.
This is happening in the aftermath of a vehicle attack at a rally in Charlottesville, Virginia that left one person dead and 19 others hurt. It happened at the scene of a rally held by white-nationalists who oppose a plan to remove a statue of Lee from a park there.
At a press conference held Tuesday morning, the Lee County NAACP says it's not about erasing history, it's about relocating what some consider a symbol of hate. “That would be our goal, to move it, preferably to a Confederate cemetery. Because from what I understand, there is an area in the local cemetery here where Confederate soldiers and family members were buried. So we hopefully can move it there, because that’s what is happening in some other cities around the country.”
Meanwhile, commissioners say they're willing to work with the group about the portrait of Robert E. Lee currently hanging in commission chambers. It shows the general in his Confederate uniform, but the NAACP wants to swap that portrait with one that shows him in civilian clothes.
The county will discuss a resolution at its next meeting.
