Four Confederate portraits removed from the United States Congress

The American Congress picked up, Thursday, June 18, four portraits of Confederates, on the orders of the leader of the democrats Nancy Pelosi, in an America in full movement of historical protest against police brutality and discrimination.

"There is no place in the venerable halls of Congress or any other honorary place to preserve the memory of men who embody the violent intolerance and grotesque racism of Confederation"wrote the Speaker of the House of Representatives, referring to the South American states that fought against the abolition of slavery during the American Civil War (1861-1865).

Nancy Pelosi asked for their stall to mark the anniversary, Friday, of the end of slavery in the United States, given this "A moment of extraordinary national pain, while we mourn the hundreds of black Americans killed by racial injustice and police brutality".

The removal of eleven Capitol statues under study

In a rare scene on Capitol Hill, employees wearing masks to prevent the spread of the coronavirus climbed on ladders to take down these golden frames, which sat enthroned near the entrance to the hemicycle.

The four portraits removed represent presidents of the XIX Chamber^e century who had also served under the Confederate colors: Robert Hunter (Virginia), Howell Cobb (Georgia), James Orr (South Carolina) and Charles Crisp (Georgia).

The United States has experienced a historic protest against racism since the death of George Floyd, who died during a police arrest, on May 25 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Since then, Confederate monuments have been brought down, statues of Christopher Columbus beheaded and even the film Gone with the Wind has been sidelined.

Nancy Pelosi had also called on June 10 to remove eleven statues from the Capitol, seat of Congress in Washington, representing soldiers and Confederate officials. A committee of parliamentarians from both parties is still studying this request.