CNN pundit calls for removal of all Washington, Jefferson monuments
(Photo by Scott Olson/Getty Images)
FOX NEWS - Political commentator Angela Rye demanded that all memorials and likenesses of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Robert E. Lee be taken down.
Rye said on CNN that there is a "problem" in how many people are taught American history in school.
"George Washington was a slaveowner. Whether we think they were protecting American freedom or not, he wasn't protecting my freedom," Rye said.
"My ancestors weren't deemed human beings to him. [The monuments] all need to come down," she said, naming the three Virginians.
"This country was built on a very violent past that resulted in the death and the raping and the killing of my ancestors. I'm not going to allow us to say it's okay for Robert E. Lee but not a George Washington. We need to call it what it is," she said.
Rye said America is "very close to repeating" the problems of the early days of the Union, apparently referencing President Trump's reaction to violence in Jefferson's hometown of Charlottesville.