Kudos to Gov. Ralph S. Northam for signing common sense legislation that takes first steps in getting rid of the Confederate flotsam and jetsam that litters Virginia communities, undermines our psyches and devalues the lives of generations of enslaved people who were kept in bondage for the benefit of white supremacists.

The legislation, much of which was sponsored by members of the Virginia Legislative Black Caucus, does the following:

1 — Gives localities control over the Confederate monuments within their jurisdiction.

This is good news for Richmond, Charlottesville, Norfolk and other communities that have sought to remove Confederate statues and symbols from their boulevards, parks, courthouses and other public spaces.

But with more than 220 Confederate monuments around Virginia, the new law is just the first step. We will see the real backbone of members of Richmond City Council when the matter of taking down the statues on Monument Avenue comes up for a vote.

We have long held that the statues need to be removed. They honor Confederate traitors who took up arms against the U.S. government to keep black people in slavery. The statues can be moved to Civil War battlefields, museums and historic homes of the Confederates they honor to be put into proper context. The city’s public spaces should be reserved for people of all colors who truly deserve to be honored.

In January, City Council voted 6-2 to ask the General Assembly for local control over the monuments. Now the council will have that authority. The ball will be in their court. We’ll see what the council does — especially in this election year.

2 — Eliminates the state holiday established as a tribute to Confederate traitors Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson and, instead, establishes Election Day in November as a state holiday.

A new Election Day holiday will be a no-excuse reminder for Virginians to go vote. It also is a declaration by the state to all Virginians — including young people — that we consider voting such an important cornerstone of our democracy that we give state workers the day off to exercise this right protected under the U.S. Constitution.

3 — Establishes a commission to recommend a replacement for the Robert E. Lee statue representing Virginia in the U.S. Capitol.

Congressman A. Donald McEachin of Henrico and Congresswoman Jennifer Wexton of Northern Virginia asked Gov. Northam in December to come up with a better person to represent the state than “a prevalent reminder of Virginia’s disturbing racial legacy.”

Their charge to the governor was taken up by state Sen. Louise Lucas of Portsmouth and Delegate Jeion Ward of Hampton, both members of the VLBC.

We are certain a statue of a more fitting person can be put in the U.S. Capitol on Virginia’s behalf. The monuments of Confederates offer a version of history that excludes the contributions and the sacrifices of African-Americans and people of color. They need to be moved to make way for a broader, more inclusive telling of the past.

However, vestiges of the Confederacy remain inside the state Capitol in Richmond and on the grounds. These statues, busts and monuments should be removed if the governor and the legislature intend to do more than half-step.

Additionally, Gov. Northam also has signed legislation striking discriminatory language from Virginia’s Acts of Assembly. This includes laws that banned interracial marriage, blocked school integration and prohibited black and white people from living in the same neighborhoods.

It is important that these laws be stricken because we never know what elements may come to power and seek to have the laws revived, or reinterpreted by the courts, if they remain on the books.

But the real work now for Gov. Northam, the General Assembly, the VLBC and all right-minded Virginians is to eliminate the laws, policies and practices that maintain inequities in education, health care, voting access, punishment and incarceration, housing and em- ployment that keep African-Americans and people of color in a cycle of permanent underclass.

Those laws, policies and practices are not so blatantly spelled out in code books, but perpetuate the system of racial injustice and inequity that has existed in Virginia for 400 years.

That’s the next big step.

We hope Gov. Northam and the legislature will get busy on that.