Special envoy to Richmond (Virginia)
The American Civil War does not seem to be over in Richmond. The protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, which erupted in the capital of Virginia as in other American cities, have since turned to symbols of an always controversial past.
Read also: Statues, new targets of the "cultural war" in the United States
For the past week, protesters have invaded the lawns of Monument Avenue, in one of the most upscale areas of the city, to demand that the statues of former Confederate heroes be removed. Saturday, thousands of people marched along this tree-lined boulevard bordered by beautiful patrician houses, before regrouping at the foot of the immense equestrian statue of Confederate General Robert Lee, to denounce the racism which, according to them, continues permeate American society.
A jumble of graffiti and multicolored slogans now covers the base of the statue, so superimposed that they have become almost illegible: " Black lives
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