Jacksonville mayor removes Confederate monument while GOP official decries 'cancel culture'
Source: USA Today
Published 9:05 p.m. ET Dec. 27, 2023 | Updated 9:14 p.m. ET Dec. 27, 2023
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Crews removed a Confederate monument from a Jacksonville, Florida, park early Wednesday morning after years of debate and controversy over its removal.
Jacksonville Mayor Donna Deegan ordered the removal of the "Tribute to the Women of the Southern Confederacy" monument, which has stood north of downtown in Springfield Park since 1915. Deegan said the monument was a divisive presence that had no place in a city park.
“Symbols matter," she said. "They tell the world what we stand for and what we aspire to be. By removing the Confederate monument from Springfield Park, we signal a belief in our shared humanity. That we are all created equal. The same flesh and bones. The same blood running through our veins. The same heart and soul."
A crowd gathered on the sidewalk erupted in cheers as crews took down two bronze statues, one of a woman in robes carrying a Confederate flag and the other of a woman reading to two children. "It's bittersweet," said Jacksonville resident Wells Todd. "Why has it taken so long to remove something that should never have been put up?"
Read more: https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2023/12/27/confederate-monument-removed-jacksonville-florida/72043093007/
Good. Need to keep doing this everywhere this crap exists. Long past time to remove this putrid infection that has defiled this nation.
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THIS is what leadership looks like -- or at least ought to!
Just about two years ago, the name of my neighborhood high school was changed from [Confederate Civil War General Robert E.] Lee to Riverside. There was a referendum and the voters in this district -- many of whom had attended the school -- decided they agreed with the School Board: the old name did not reflect the composition of the student body, or indeed the whole neighborhood.
