It’s time for Johnny Reb, skinheads, the hooded Klan and closet racists at the office and who live next door to wake up and understand that it’s not 1865 any more. 

The Civil War is over. The South lost. 

The statues of Confederates must come down.

The senseless violence in Charlottesville has displayed for the nation and the world what we, at the Free Press, have long pointed out — that these statues venerating Confederate traitors are symbols of power for neo-Nazis, the Ku Klux Klan, the alt-right and other extremists who cling to the false notion of white supremacy and the domination of others. And just like the generals the statues portray, their white nationalist supporters are willing to fight — and kill — to keep the status quo.

In June 2015, white supremacist Dylann Roof went to Mother Emanuel Church in Charleston, S.C., sat through a Bible study and then pulled out a .45-caliber handgun and opened fire on the pastor and the parishioners, all African-Americans. He killed nine people in an attempt to start a race war.

Last Saturday, James Alex Fields Jr., with the same twisted mentality, came from Ohio to Charlottesville, marched with white supremacists opposing the removal of that city’s statue of Confederate Robert E. Lee and then got into a car and plowed through a crowd of counterprotesters. He killed one woman and injured 19 other people, some critically.

How much more violence must leaders in Richmond and other Southern cities require before they understand the perverse meaning that clings to these Confederate statues? How many more deaths at the hands of white supremacists will it take for the statues to come down?

There should be no more confusion or misunderstanding about what these statues represent.

This tumultuous time in Charlottesville has shown us who our true leaders are. To no surprise, President Trump has failed that test. His initial failure to denounce white extremists and to address the murder of Heather Heyer, coupled with his excuses on Tuesday and blame of others, show once again that he is a bigot and racist. His defense of what he called “the very fine people” at the white nationalist march has given the green light to white supremacists. By his wink and nod, they know their terrorist activities can go forward uninhibited by any genuine checks by the Justice Department or federal authorities. 

Trump supporter David Duke, a former Imperial Wizard of the KKK and a frequent visitor to Chesterfield County, thanked President Trump in a tweet. 

On Saturday, Mr. Duke told reporters he was at the rally in Charlottesville because it represented “a turning point for the people of this country. We are determined to take our country back. We are going to fulfill the promises of Donald Trump. That’s what we believed in. That’s why we voted for Donald Trump, because he said he’s going to take our country back. And that’s what we’ve got to do.”

It’s time for Mayor Levar M. Stoney to grow some backbone. While he capitulated on Wednesday and said his impotent Monument Avenue Commission now may consider removing the Confederate traitors along the tree-lined street, he hasn’t gone far enough. He needs to show true leadership and push City Council to take the statues down.

The events in Charlottesville have prompted other cities to act.

After a unanimous vote by its City Council, Baltimore overnight removed four statues of Confederates, including those to Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Confederate women. 

The mayor of Lexington, Ky., said he would push ahead with plans to remove their Confederate statues, while officials in Dallas, Memphis, Tenn., and Jacksonville, Fla., are moving to take them down. On Tuesday, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper also announced initiatives for removal of Confederate memorials from state property.

Richmond was the capital of the Confederacy, the command post for the war to keep black people in bondage. Mayor Stoney, Richmond City Council and the Monument Avenue Commission must change the face Richmond shows to the world and stop honoring the traitors who fought to deny the freedom and humanity of others.

Our city should be out front by showing others that Confederates have no place on pedestals of honor in the middle of our city.

On this issue, Mayor Stoney cannot use the commission as a subterfuge for inaction. Nor can he continue to kowtow to the wishes of political supporters or certain special interests.

This is not a black-white issue. It is an issue of right and wrong. And like Ms. Heyer who gave her life in the struggle for right, people of conscience of all races and nationalities know what the outcome should be.

There is no context that can justify such a perch for Confederates or salve the wounds the statues continue to inflict.

Again, we say move the statues to museums or national battlefields in Virginia, where people can learn the history and see them in proper context. 

There’s an old joke making rounds again: How many Richmonders does it take to change a light bulb? Four. One to change the bulb and three others to talk about how great the old one was.

Mayor Stoney, we don’t want you or Richmond to become that joke.

It’s time for people in Richmond and elsewhere to hang up notions of white supremacy and embrace the fact that African-Americans, Latinos, Jews, immigrants, gays and people of color have an equal place at the table and are not just the wait staff, cooks or janitors. To leave up Confederate statues erected during the time of Jim Crow makes this city a laughingstock.

It’s time to move away from the past.

It’s time for the statues to go.