Monday, July 12, 1999
By WILL JONES
Times-Dispatch Staff Writer

The controversy over the images used on the Canal Walk's floodwall gallery could land in the lap of the Richmond City Council.

Councilman Sa'ad El-Amin plans to ask city attorneys today whether the council must authorize any display on the floodwall because it's public property and public money was used to restore it.

No such action has been taken, but a majority of council members have said they believe Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee's image should be part of the display.

El-Amin made his plans last night after a group of religious and community organizations met privately to discuss the matter at the Metropolitan African American Baptist Church on Grace Street.

The group, which calls itself the Ad Hoc Committee on Justice, issued a statement at the end of its meeting that said the council should have to authorize any display on the floodwall and that it should vote to keep it bare.

The Rev. Roscoe Cooper, spokesman of the ad hoc group, said the controversy over Lee's image has created a strong division between whites and blacks that keeps widening. "There are no winners and losers in this," he said. "It's an emotion-laden issue. There are more substantial issues that we need to deal with."

The resolution also said members had voted unanimously to stand behind El-Amin. He successfully led a campaign to have Lee's picture removed from the gallery, saying it was offensive to blacks.

El-Amin said he's not sure whether the council has to authorize any display for the floodwall, but he added that the question makes a lot of sense.

He said that, if city attorneys agree with the interpretation, he'll introduce a resolution at tonight's meeting asking that the council vote on the issue July 26.

In a phone interview, Mayor Timothy M. Kaine said the council deliberately tried to avoid the issue when the controversy surfaced.

He said council members agreed informally to give the matter to a committee appointed by the Richmond Historic Riverfront Foundation, which is paying for the gallery.

That committee announced its new proposal for the gallery June 30. The images were on display in the Richmond Centre through yesterday for public comment. The new proposal includes a difference picture of Lee, one that shows him outside his Richmond home the day after the surrender at Appomattox.

Kaine said he doesn't think the council would have to vote on the floodwall gallery but added that he never considered the matter from that legal perspective. City Attorney John A. Rupp couldn't be reached last night.

Kaine said he's surprised by the ad hoc group's suggestion that the wall remain bare. He served on the committee that recommended the new set of images for the gallery and called the proposal positive and fair.