Push to change Robert E. Lee portrait continues

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LEE COUNTY, Fla. – A Robert E. Lee portrait on display in the Lee County Commission chambers continues to hang despite new calls for it to be taken down.

The picture continues to cause controversy after last month’s deadly shooting at a church in Charleston, South Carolina.

In the painting, Lee is wearing a Confederate uniform. The Lee County NAACP president and several other people are asking for the portrait to be changed to Lee wearing a civilian outfit instead.

One woman even compared the uniform and the Confederate flag to a swastika, asking for it to be removed.

Local NAACP President, James Muwakkil, told commissioners the uniform in the portrait makes him personally uncomfortable.

“Keep Mr. Robert E. Lee up there, but take the confederate uniform down. It represents treason against the U.S. government but it also represents treason against the people of the United States as well particularly African Americans because we were enslaved at the time,” said Muwakkil.

Despite the outcry, it doesn’t look like change will happen anytime soon. Commissioners did not take any action in changing the portrait on Tuesday.

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