The decision to remove the statue was made by the duly elected city council of Charlottesville.  It wasn't a policy imposed from the outside.  On the contrary, it was white nationalists from the outside trying to force their views on the city that caused the trouble.

This was described as the largest white supremacist rally in decades.  Since that amounted to a few hundred people, it's clear that the majority in the south has no interest in reliving a civil war that ended 150 years ago.