'An inspiration for generations to come' two Black men reflect on the removal of Confederate statue
At the age of 12, Harold Walker quickly knew where he stood with the police.
It was 1985, and Walker and his friends were walking around their hometown of Hopewell. A white police officer demanded the boys to get off the road they were trying to cross. The boys yelled back that they were merely trying to cross the street.
You heard what I said, f****** n******! The cop hollered at the boys.
The incident is forever imprinted in Walker’s mind. Now 48, Walker and his friends continue to talk about what happened to this day. Looking at Walker now, you can see him reliving the experience through his eyes as if he were back on that same street 36 years ago.
“In terms of how my community viewed young Black men, we’re talking about someone in an authoritative calling a group of young men n*******,' said Walker. “It’s a sad reality of a young Black man.”
Today, Walker stood near the now-former Robert E. Lee memorial near downtown Richmond. The 12-ton statue of the American Confederate leader was unmounted from its pillar after the Virginia Supreme Court ruled that it was the commonwealth’s right to do so. A week after the decision, the statue was removed, severed and whisked away on the back of a truck.
Nearby crowds erupted in cheers when the 131-year-old sculpture was lifted from the pillar. Walker snagged a copy of a sign with the words "Giddy Up Loser" along with a picture of a galloping horse from a local print shop. He purposefully woke up early in order to be present for the historical moment.