It’s been almost 18 months since the New Orleans City Council voted 6-1 to remove three monuments to Confederate leaders and one monument to a Reconstruction-era white supremacist revolt, but the formidable structures have only started coming down during the past few weeks. The third of those four monuments—a statue of Confederate general P.G.T. Beauregard dressed in his Confederate States Army uniform while riding a horse—came down during the early a.m. hours on Wednesday.
Supporters of removing the monuments and supporters of keeping them up both gathered at the intersection of Esplanade and Carrollton Avenues (where the monuments are located) last night, just as they gathered near the Jefferson Davis monument when it was removed last week. However, things took a different turn this time around when an ad hoc brass band showed up to celebrate the occasion. According to the New Orleans Advocate, the band arrived around 1:15 a.m. and featured an assortment of brass players from different groups.
Evidently, the members of this impromptu band weren’t the only musicians watching as the Beauregard monument came down. NOLA.com reports that acclaimed jazz musician and composer Terence Blanchard was also on site.
“It’s a historic moment,” Blanchard told the publication as he watched the monument leave its pedestal. “This is something I never thought I’d see in my lifetime. It’s a sign that the world is changing.”
This video was tweeted by Danny Monteverde of WWL:
Another clip of the brass band playing at the removal of the Beauregard statue. pic.twitter.com/sTkLBhqBLy
— Danny Monteverde (@DCMonteverde) May 17, 2017
This video was tweeted by Ryan Naquin of Fox 8 News:
Crowd serenaded by brass band as PGT Beauregard statue is removed. “Take that statue down” chant echoing down Esplanade @FOX8NOLA pic.twitter.com/iJyK5KrT5c
— Ryan Naquin (@NaqsNews) May 17, 2017
