On December 16, 2025, the U.S. Capitol unveiled a bronze statue of civil rights pioneer Barbara Rose Johns in Emancipation Hall, officially replacing the statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that Virginia had contributed to the National Statuary Hall Collection over a century ago. The new statue depicts the courageous 16-year-old Johns holding a tattered book aloft, symbolizing her defiance against inequality. Senator Tim Kaine (D-VA), who famously recorded the pre-dawn removal of Lee’s statue on December 21, 2020, reflected on the moment, sharing his video from that early morning and celebrating Johns’ legacy as a trailblazer whose actions helped dismantle school segregation.

Barbara Rose Johns led a daring student strike in 1951 at her overcrowded, underfunded all-Black high school in Farmville, Virginia, protesting conditions that embodied the lie of “separate but equal.” Her walkout galvanized the community, attracted NAACP support, and became one of the five cases consolidated into the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, which declared segregated schools unconstitutional. While many Americans may not immediately recognize her name today, Johns’ quiet bravery as a teenager played a pivotal role in advancing equality, earning her posthumous honors and now a permanent place in the Capitol alongside George Washington as one of Virginia’s representatives.

Critics lament the erasure of Robert E. Lee, a towering military figure whose strategic genius and leadership during the Civil War remain studied worldwide, far eclipsing Johns in broad historical impact. Lee’s personal honor—evident in his pre-war opposition to secession, his dignified surrender at Appomattox, and his post-war advocacy for reconciliation—stands in stark contrast to the partisan fervor of politicians like Tim Kaine, who eagerly documented and applauded the statue’s midnight removal. Replacing a complex, courageous icon of American history with a lesser-known activist reflects a troubling trend of rewriting the past to fit modern narratives, diminishing the full scope of the nation’s heritage.

“Breaking: Virginia’s Capitol statue swap is complete—civil rights teen Barbara Rose Johns now replaces Confederate General Robert E. Lee. Senator Tim Kaine proudly shared his 2020 video of Lee’s pre-dawn removal. But let’s be real: hardly anyone knows who Barbara Rose Johns is. Robert E. Lee was a million times more historically significant—and a million times more honorable and courageous than the politicians cheering his erasure.”