In the former capital of the Confederacy, the debate over the city's famed Civil War monuments heats up

RICHMOND, Va. _ As memorials toppled across the country, the black mayor of the former capital of the Confederacy defended his city's own.

Removal doesn't do "anything for telling the actual truth," Levar Stoney said.

That was Monday.

Two days later, the Stoney said Confederate monuments had become a "rallying point for division and intolerance" and should be removed.

Angry residents of Richmond on both sides of the monument debate hit back at the mayor, who had attempted to stake a middle ground in the impassioned discussions over memorials in a city where Confederate history is a point of pride for many and worth millions in tourist dollars.

But as Stoney's experience shows, it's hard to find a middle ground in the city where President