Schoolchildren Gather Around Richmond Monuments to Beg For Peace

Brittany M. Hughes | August 18, 2017
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While the media has apoplectic fits over a couple hundred white supremacists waving tiki torches, and Antifa rioters storm public grounds to desecrate and topple “offensive” historical monuments, a group of young schoolchildren in Richmond, Virginia gathered around a local Confederate statue Thursday to call for peace.

According to Style Weekly, a local Richmond-based magazine, about 20 middle and elementary school students with a local youth arts program met around the massive statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee that sits in the middle of the city’s famed Monument Avenue. But rather than vandalize the statue or wave angry signs about its alleged offensiveness, the children instead waved signs sporting messages like “Honk Twice For Love + Peace" and "We Are Family."

Amiri Richardson-Keys, co-owner of the ARTS Community Center and one of the small event’s organizers, told Style, "We're out here promoting love and positivity for the community, for the world."

"We've had many people ride by and honk,” he explained. “We've had some who have been a little rude, but the kids have handled that very well. And they understand what it is to show love instead of hate."

"I hope the takeaway is that we all have different views. However, we can still love and still have peace amongst that," Richardson-Keys continued. "But it doesn't take hatred, it doesn't take violence to make those things happen."

If only everyone could be as wise as little children.

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