Members of the U.S. House of Representatives passed legislation Tuesday that would remove all Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol as well as a bust of former Chief Justice of the United States Roger Taney.
He was the author of the 1857 Dred Scott decision that declared that people of African descent were not U.S. citizens. Taney’s bust will be replaced by a bust honoring Thurgood Marshall, the first African-American Supreme Court justice.
However, 120 Republicans did not vote in favor of the decision, according to NPR.
All Democratic representatives voted in favor of the measure, along with 67 Republicans.
“My ancestors built this building,” Rep. Karen Bass, D-Calif., a Black woman, said according to NPR reports. “Imagine how they would feel, knowing that more than 100 years after slavery was abolished in this country, we still paid homage to the very people that betrayed this country in order to keep my ancestors enslaved.”
Those who voted against the bill cited various reasons for their lack of support, from believing the bill was rushed to “cancel culture” and a support of state’s rights to choose statues.
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Every state can chose two statues to display at the Capitol, said CNN.
According to The Hill, there were 11 statues of people soldiers and officials from the Confederacy, a government established by 11 states that succeeded from the U.S. and prompted the Civil War before ultimately losing it – on public display in the U.S. Capitol as of last June. These statues include Confederacy President Jefferson Davis. The House bill also called for removal of other statues of people who supported segregation.
Last year, inspired by the protests against racial inequity in the wake of George Floyd’s death, the House of Representatives passed similar legislation with support from 72 Republicans that stalled in the Senate. This year, Democrats have control of the Senate.
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