The famous outdoor relief sculpture depicting Confederate leaders on Stone Mountain in Georgia has come under attack from the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP. The chapter's leader is calling for the removal of the Confederate Memorial Carving that depicts Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson.
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A press release from Richard Rose, the president of the Atlanta chapter of the National Assn. for the Advancement of Colored People, calls for the elimination of the Confederate carving, calling it a "glorification of white supremacy."
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"It is time for Georgia and other Southern states to end the glorification of slavery and white supremacy paid for and maintained with the taxes of all its citizens," the release states.
"History reminds us that despite the hero status accorded to Robert E. Lee, the West Point educated Lee was a traitor who led the military effort of the breakaway states, including Georgia."
cComments
Folks. There's a part of our history that involves slavery and bondage. You can tear down every monument you want in efforts to erase the past, but in the end, you've failed to re-write history. All the monuments should stand. They should stand as reminders. They are teaching moments....
HERBIE V.
AT 12:09 PM JULY 14, 2015
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The release continues, "The insurrection's sole purpose was to create a separate nation that would maintain the enslavement of generations of African descendants."
Rose said in a phone interview with The Times on Tuesday that "symbols demonstrate people's mindset. They mean something. There are monuments all over the South... that were erected to demonstrate and celebrate white supremacy."
He said that the art work is also inappropriate because none of the Confederate leaders depicted hails from Georgia.
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"The heritage we should be celebrating is the U.S. heritage. We're not a separate nation," Rose said. He added that he is working with local lawmakers to push this issue forward.
In an interview with local Atlanta WSB-TV, Rose said that the Confederate carvings "can be sandblasted off or someone can carefully remove a slab of that" to sell at auction to the highest bidder.
