“Our motto in this borough is ‘ne cede malis,’—‘yield not to evil.’ And we will not, no matter how old that evil might be. Our diversity is our strength, not just here in The Bronx but across our city and our nation. In celebration of that diversity and united in our outright rejection of the hatred that we have seen on display in recent days—be it an act of domestic terrorism in Charlottesville or the vitriol emanating from the White House—the busts of Confederate Generals Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson must be removed from the Hall of Fame for Great Americans on the campus of Bronx Community College.
“Their inclusion at this location is especially galling: there is nothing great about two men who committed treason against the United States to fight to keep the institution of slavery intact. A more appropriate location for these statues would be a museum, such as the New York State Military Museum in Saratoga Springs, where they could be presented in a historical context rather than venerated. But they should not stay in The Bronx any longer,” said Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr.