GEORGIA: ‘Confederate Mount Rushmore’ to Get New Neighbor: MLK
ATLANTA — It has been called the “Confederate Mount Rushmore” — a tribute etched into Georgia’s Stone Mountain depicting Confederate war heroes Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson and Jefferson Davis. The NAACP has demanded its removal. One local artist has suggested adding Georgia rap duo Outkast to the carving.
Now state authorities have announced plans to use the space to also honor the nation’s most beloved civil rights leader, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.
The Confederate Memorial Carving depicts three Confederate leaders of the Civil War, President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson.
The monument to the martyr would stand amid America’s pro-slavery heroes, on a storied spot that once served as a gathering place for the Ku Klux Klan, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. It would feature a tower that would include a likeness of the Liberty Bell — a symbol of the country’s independence — along with a line taken from King’s 1963 “I Have a Dream” speech: “Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia.”
“It is one of the best-known speeches in U.S. history,” Bill Stephens, chief executive officer for the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, told the Atlanta newspaper. “We think it’s a great addition to the historical offerings we have here.”
The “freedom bell” itself will periodically ring from the mountaintop, the Journal-Constitution reported. An exhibit to celebrate African-American Civil War soldiers has been included in the plans, which are likely to be formally rolled out “sometime before the holiday season,” according to the newspaper.
The announcement followed an op-ed from Atlanta Journal-Constitution columnist Jim Galloway, who had called for such recognition. After nine black parishioners were shot and killed in June inside Emanuel AME Church in Charleston, S.C., there was a national backlash against Confederate flags and icons.
So Galloway suggested an idea: An addition to Stone Mountain, to show another side of history.
“Stone Mountain may be required to serve as a Confederate memorial, which makes the subtraction of history difficult,” he wrote in July. “But state law doesn’t rule out the addition of history. To respect the dead is well and good. It is not always wise to give them the last word.
“Perhaps a few words, carved in granite, once spoken by a fellow who had a dream of freedom ringing from the top of Stone Mountain.”
An Atlanta City Council resolution also called on Stone Mountain to consider adding others to the monument, possibly including King.
The idea apparently caught the governor’s attention.
“The governing body of Stone Mountain and the private company here, they went far beyond that and they decided there ought to be a monument,” Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal (R) said, according to WSB-TV.
[Confederate flag comes down on South Carolina’s statehouse grounds]
The idea has drawn mixed reactions from people across the state.
Warner Robins resident Kaycie Cruz, 22, said she thinks it’s a good call.
“I think it would add another special person to the monument and, maybe, it will attract more tourists,” she told the Journal-Constitution. “I can’t believe people are making such a big deal about [the Confederate carving].”
Tim Pilgrim, head of the Georgia chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, called it an affront to the Confederate legacy.
“This is an insult to us,” he told the Journal-Constitution. “This is like the government going down to Auburn Avenue and putting a monument of Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Stonewall Jackson on top of the King monument. How would supporters of Martin Luther King feel about that?”
The monument and exhibit would be funded by revenue from Stone Mountain Park, according to the Journal-Constitution.
Because King’s famous speech is copyrighted, authorities are now working to get permission from his family to use his remarks.
“Discussions have taken place with the King family and are taking place now,” Stephens told the newspaper. “Their initial reaction is very favorable. But we haven’t completed those discussions yet.”
The Rev. Joseph Lowery, who worked with King, said he’s looking forward to it.
“It is amazing,” he told the Journal-Constitution. “I think it is a good idea, introducing a new era to the Deep South. They are placing Martin Luther King in a place where he ought to be. Where I never dreamed he would be. This is striking.”
–washingtonpost.com
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MISSISSIPPI: Activist Seeks Flag Change Through Ballot Box
JACKSON, Miss. — A new effort is underway to remove the confederate emblem from the state flag called Initiative 55, the Flag for all Mississippians Act. It’s the brainchild of 43-year old Sharon Brown of Jackson.
CIVIL RIGHTS ICON MYRLIE EVERS-WILLIAMS AT PODIUM.
“As a state flag it should be representative of all persons and not just representative of our past,” said Brown.
Brown says she need 100,000 signatures for the initiative to appear on the 2018 ballot.
“We do we want? A new flag! When do we want it? Right now!” chanted marchers.
Sunday, supporters wearing T-shirts that said 1 Flag for all and carrying signs marched from Jackson State University to the Capital for a rally. Among the marchers, South Carolina Republican State Representative Jenny Horne. She was instrumental in urging lawmakers to remove the confederate flag from their state capitol grounds after the Charleston Nine killings. While supporters of the flag say its about heritage not hate, Horne says it unified the state and makes dollars and cents.
“The economic development opportunities that Mississippi is missing out on, you don’t even know it. But it’s costing all citizens jobs and economic development. And in South Carolina what we’ve seen is that now we’re open for business,” said Horne.
Eighty-two year old Civil Rights Icon Myrlie Ever-Williams told the crowd not to be discouraged by delays.
“As long as you get there. As long as Mississippi gets there and we become a united state. We’re going to be okay,” said Evers-Williams.
Sharon Brown expects the certified petitions should be ready this week to begin collecting signatures.
–mpbonline.org
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MISSISSIPPI: Confederate Flag Controversy Hurting Economy
Some 400 people rallied to change the Mississippi flag Sunday, calling on the state to remove the Confederate battle emblem that’s prominently displayed in the upper left corner. One prominent South Carolina lawmaker attending the event outside the Mississippi Capitol said the state’s continued use of the Confederate image has hurt the local economy, reported the Associated Press.
The rallygoers included civil rights leader Myrlie Evers-Williams and Mississippi-born rapper David Banner; they didn’t propose a replacement design, but instead focused on the symbol the attendees called racially divisive.
The flag has featured the Confederate battle emblem since 1894 and voters previously chose to keep it in 2001. But the national conversation about Confederate symbols took on new urgency after the June killing of nine black worshippers at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina. Authorities have said the killing was racially motivated and photographs have shown the suspected shooter with the Confederate flag.
The Mississippi state flag, which incorporates the Confederate battle emblem, hangs with other state flags in the subway system under the U.S. Capitol. Reuters
Republican state Rep. Jenny Horne of South Carolina said Sunday that Mississippi hurts itself financially by displaying the battle emblem, which she said is a relic of a different time. “It is a new South,” Horne said, according to the Associated Press. “The economic development opportunities that Mississippi is missing out on — you don’t even know it, but it’s costing all citizens jobs.”
Some 400 people rallied to change the Mississippi flag Sunday, calling on the state to remove the Confederate battle emblem that’s prominently displayed in the upper left corner. One prominent South Carolina lawmaker attending the event outside the Mississippi Capitol said the state’s continued use of the Confederate image has hurt the local economy, reported the Associated Press.
The rallygoers included civil rights leader Myrlie Evers-Williams and Mississippi-born rapper David Banner; they didn’t propose a replacement design, but instead focused on the symbol the attendees called racially divisive. The flag has featured the Confederate battle emblem since 1894 and voters previously chose to keep it in 2001. But the national conversation about Confederate symbols took on new urgency after the June killing of nine black worshippers at a historically black church in Charleston, South Carolina. Authorities have said the killing was racially motivated and photographs have shown the suspected shooter with the Confederate flag.
Republican state Rep. Jenny Horne of South Carolina said Sunday that Mississippi hurts itself financially by displaying the battle emblem, which she said is a relic of a different time. “It is a new South,” Horne said, according to the Associated Press. “The economic development opportunities that Mississippi is missing out on — you don’t even know it, but it’s costing all citizens jobs.”
–ibtimes.com
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GEORGIA: Confederate Flag Group Charged After Party Confrontation
DOUGLAS COUNTY, Ga. — A Douglas County Grand Jury has charged a Confederate flag group with making terroristic threats against an African-American family during a birthday party in July.
The woman who shared the video, Melissa Alford, said the trucks were on her property and their passengers were armed.
Fifteen members of the group, known as “Respect the Flag,” were charged with violations of Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act and Terroristic Threats.
Channel 2 Action News spoke to a woman who was at the birthday party.
Melissa Alford said at least seven pickup trucks displaying Confederate flags pulled up on her property on Campbellton Street and their passengers were armed and threatened to “kill y’all [N-words].”
“I’m okay with the flags, I’m okay with riding around with the flags,” Alford said. “I’m not okay with them going around threatening people and using racial slurs. I’m not okay with that.“
Police were called in and stopped the confrontation.
Two members of the group were also charged with battery for in connection with an incident that occurred the same day at a local gas station.
The arrests began on Friday and will continue Monday.
–wsbtv.com
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