National Cathedral removing Confederate general stained glass windows

WASHINGTON — The Washington National Cathedral is removing two stained glass windows that depict two famous Confederate generals.

Cathedral authorities announced Wednesday that windows depicting generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson will removed and stored pending a decision about their future.

This stained glass window on June 25, 2015, at The Washington National Cathedral in Washington, DC, depicts the life of US Civil War General Robert E. Lee, Commander of the Army of Northern Virginia. The dean of The National Cathedral, Reverend Gary



A cathedral statement says the images are "inconsistent" with its mission and "a barrier to our important work on racial justice and racial reconciliation."

The windows have been a topic of debate for two years. Removing them was first proposed after the June 2015 racially motivated shootings in Charleston, South Carolina. Cathedral officials say they have been debating ways to potentially keep the windows but "contextualize" their historical meaning. But the statement says the issue gained new "urgency" after the recent, violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia.