Monuments need to honor blacks

I was pleased to read the coverage of the June 19 ceremony at the new Sacagawea marker at the Lewis and Clark statue. The marker is a fitting addition to a site that distorted the true record of the expedition of Meriwether Lewis, William Clark and their party.

I can only wonder when Charlottesville will see fit to correct an equally egregious historical distortion, and add to the existing monuments to Confederate nostalgia downtown (the statues of Lee, Jackson, and the Confederate soldier). By failing to mention the real cause of the Civil War, which is that the ruling class of the Southern states wanted to preserve slavery, these monuments distort the history of our city.

A fitting addition to the downtown monuments might celebrate the black Virginians who escaped bondage to fight in the Union Army for the destruction of slavery and the preservation of the Union. Surely these brave Virginians deserve at least as much public recognition as those who fought valiantly to destroy the Union and preserve slavery.