‘We always knew it was possible’

This paper examines the removal of the statues of General Robert E. Lee, General P. G. T. Beauregard, and Jefferson Davis in New Orleans as an illustration of a highly racialized strain of urban fallism: fallism pitting the proponents of diversity and inclusion against conservative, often white nationalist sympathisers. It argues that urban fallism in the context of New Orleans is a social movement driven by grassroots activists seeking the elimination of prominent monuments to white supremacy from the city’s streets. This movement is working within a long tradition of political critique of ‘Lost Cause’ ideology, reaching back to the myth’s inception in the late 19th century. The fallism that occurred on the streets of New Orleans in 2017, albeit made legal via formal channels, was made possible because of community activists who not only raised public awareness about the historical significance of the monuments but also refused to quarantine the statues in the past. The controversy speaks directly to the legacy of slavery and white supremacy in the United States, a legacy thrown into relief with the 2016 U.S. election and the reassertion of white nationalist politics and policy under the Trump administration.So what meanings do these statues hold now that white nationalism is in the headlines and the nation is divided between conservatives and progressives, echoing Civil War-era and Civil Rights-era politics? This paper uses public debate and street protest surrounding monument removal to explore the relationship between urban fallism, historical memory, and contemporary racial politics.