A statue of Black educator Mary McLeod Bethune replaced the statue of a Confederate general in the National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol on Wednesday.
Why it matters: Mary McLeod Bethune is the first Black American to have a state statue in the hall. She replaces Edmund Kirby Smith, who was among the last to surrender at the end of the Civil War in 1865.
The big picture: Bethune was an adviser to President Franklin D. Roosevelt and an advocate for Black Americans from the schoolhouse to the White House.
- She founded a university that became Bethune-Cookman University, a historically Black university in Daytona Beach, Florida.
What they're saying: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi during the unveiling ceremony called the replacement "trading a traitor for a civil rights hero."
- Rep. Frederica Wilson (D-Fla.) said at the event, "Today we are rewriting the history we want to share with our future generations. We are replacing a remnant of hatred and division with a symbol of hope and inspiration."
- Lawrence Drake II, the interim president of Bethune-Cookman University, said at the ceremony, "Our hearts are rejoicing today seeing our founder and namesake take her rightful place among the most distinguished Americans."
Meanwhile, Sen. Rick Scott (R-Fla.), who signed a bill in 2018 to commission the statue when he was Florida's governor, said in a statement that he hoped "that American families will learn from her legacy for decades to come."
Flashback: Last year, the House voted 285-120 to remove statues of Confederate generals from the Capitol.
- A Senate version of the bill was introduced last year but has not advanced.
- Overall, more than 70 Confederate statues were removed or renamed in 2021 after protests against police violence and racism put a renewed focus on the monuments.
