Antifa clashed with white nationalists in Charlottesville, Va., over a statute of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, but the state itself is named after the woman who brought slavery to the Americas.
Queen Elizabeth I, also known as The Virgin Queen, reigned from 1533 to 1603 and sponsored the expansion of the English slave trade into the British colonies of America and India, according to the national archives of the U.K. When Virginia gained statehood 1788, it owed its name to the late queen.
Antifa, a violent group of left-wing radicals who are known to destroy symbols they deem “problematic,” has yet to voice concerns about two of America’s most storied states paying homage to the Virgin Queen.
It may, however, only be a matter of time. Antifa protestors toppled a statue of a Confederate soldier in Durham, N.C., Monday. They’ve made it clear at violent riots in Berkeley, Calif. and elsewhere that destruction of property can be warranted.
Campaigns to change problematic names of organizations and buildings are not uncommon. Yale University renamed it’s John C. Calhoun residential building in February following outrage at the famous Vice President Calhoun’s defense of slavery. The university plans to rename it after Grace Murray Hopper, a computer scientist.
When The Daily Caller News Foundation reached out to the Facebook page “AntiFa USA” regarding its opinion on changing Virginia’s name, it seemed supportive.
“Hey go for it… If people are opposing fascism, that is antifascism/antifa,” the group told TheDCNF.
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