Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Robert E. Lee monument in New Orleans was removed on the 19th of May 2017. This event marked a significant chapter in the broader story of removing Confederate memorials from public land.
Most Confederate monuments were created between 1877 and 1964 to coincide with racial conflicts, specifically the late nineteenth century when segregation laws passed and the early twentieth century marking the fiftieth anniversary of the Civil War's end. A second smaller peak occurred between the late 1950s and mid-1960s aligning with the civil rights movement.
Seven states including Georgia, North Carolina, Alabama, South Carolina, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Virginia have enacted laws restricting the alteration or removal of these structures. Laws in Georgia date back to the early twentieth century while others like those in North Carolina and Alabama were updated more recently in 2015 and 2017 respectively.
By December 2022 the Naming Commission recommended changing nine Army bases and two Navy ships to honor Union soldiers instead of Confederate figures. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin pledged to follow these recommendations though some names reverted later such as Fort Benning becoming Fort Moore before returning to honor Corporal Fred G. Benning on the 3rd of March 2025.
Public support for removal increased significantly during the George Floyd protests reaching 52% in favor and 44% opposed according to polling data from 2017 and subsequent years. A 2017 Reuters poll had previously found that 54% of American adults believed the monuments should remain while only 27% said they should be removed.