Robert E. Lee Statue Could Come Down in Charlottesville

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) - Activists in Virginia are calling on officials to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from a park.
 
News outlets report that Charlottesville Mayor Mike Signer announced Monday that he will create a task force to review the issue. The group will be created within 30 days and the process will include public engagement.
 
Signer says the city must continue to "heal the wounds" created by slavery, racism and the Jim Crow era.
 
The announcement follows an online petition that calls on Charlottesville officials to remove the statue from the city's Lee Park. Activists also are demanding that officials rename the park, which was named after the Confederate general.
 
The statue has stood over the park since 1924.