Confederacy group sues Georgia park for planning an exhibit on slavery and segregation
Stone Mountain's massive carving depicts Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Gen. Robert E. Lee and Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson on horseback. Critics who have long pushed for changes say the monument enshrines the 'Lost Cause' mythology that romanticizes the Confederate cause as a state's rights struggle, but state law protects the carving from any changes.
After police brutality spurred nationwide reckonings on racial inequality and the removal of dozens of Confederate monuments in 2020, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, which oversees Stone Mountain Park, voted in 2021 to relocate Confederate flags and build a 'truth-telling' exhibit to reflect the site's role in the rebirth of the Klu Klux Klan, along with the carving's segregationist roots.
The Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans also alleges in the lawsuit filed Tuesday that the board's decision to relocate Confederate flags from a walking trail violates Georgia law.
'When they come after the history and attempt to change everything to the present political structure, that's against the law,' said Martin O'Toole, the chapter's spokesperson.
Stone Mountain Park markets itself as a family theme park and is a popular hiking spot east of Atlanta. Completed in 1972, the monument on the mountain's northern space is 190 feet (58 meters) across and 90 feet (27 meters) tall. The United Daughters of the Confederacy hired sculptor Gutzon Borglum, who later carved Mount Rushmore, to craft the carving in 1915.
That same year, the film 'Birth of a Nation' celebrated the Reconstruction-era Ku Klux Klan, which marked its comeback with a cross burning on top of Stone Mountain on Thanksgiving night in 1915. One of the 10 parts of the planned exhibit would expound on the Ku Klux's Klan reemergence and the movie's influence on the mountain's monument.
The Stone Mountain Memorial Association hired Birmingham-based Warner Museums, which specializes in civil rights installations, to design the exhibit in 2022.
'The interpretive themes developed for Stone Mountain will explore how the collective memory created by Southerners in response to the real and imagined threats to the very foundation of Southern society, the institution of slavery, by westward expansion, a destructive war, and eventual military defeat, was fertile ground for the development of the Lost Cause movement amidst the social and economic disruptions that followed,' the exhibit proposal says.
Other parts of the exhibit would address how the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Sons of Confederate Veterans perpetuated the 'Lost Cause' ideology through support for monuments, education programs and racial segregation laws across the South. It would also tell stories of a small Black community that lived near the mountain after the war.
Georgia's General Assembly allocated $11 million in 2023 to pay for the exhibit and renovate the park's Memorial Hall. The exhibit is not open yet. A spokesperson for the park did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The park's board in 2021 also voted to change its logo from an image of the Confederate carveout to a lake inside the park.
Sons of the Confederate Veterans members have defended the carvings as honoring Confederate soldiers.
The exhibit would 'radically revise' the park's setup, 'completely changing the emphasis of the Park and its purpose as defined by the law of the State of Georgia,' the lawsuit says.
___
Kramon is a corps member for The Associated Press/Report for America Statehouse News Initiative. Report for America is a nonprofit national service program that places journalists in local newsrooms to report on undercovered issues. Follow Kramon on X: @charlottekramon.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Longtime Franklin County Board of Elections member Kimberly Marinello has died of cancer
Longtime Franklin County Board of Elections member Kimberly E. Marinello has died at 72 from brain cancer, according to her fellow board members. Marinello served on the board since 2008 and she died on July 18, said her fellow Democrat on the board, Mike Sexton. "Just an outstanding, dedicated Democrat," Sexton said of Marinello. "Her work was meticulous. She's very efficient and she's been one of the most loyal Democrats I have ever met." Sexton said Marinello was diagnosed with cancer just about a month ago at the end of June. That's when she stepped down from her role as treasurer for the Franklin County Democratic Party, a role she had held since 2003. Now, the county party has 15 days to nominate a replacement to the county board of elections for the Ohio Secretary of State to approve. In Ohio, county boards of elections are made up of two Republicans and two Democrats. The county party already had a meeting scheduled for the evening of July 22, so Sexton said the party will vote then on a nominee. Doug Preisse, a Republican and chairman of the Franklin County Board of Elections, told the Dispatch that the whole board is saddened and Marinello was a truly decent person. "For the many years I served with Kim, while she was always a loyal Democrat, she was first and foremost a loyal public servant," Preisse said. "She looked out for the best interest of Franklin County voters. It was a pleasure and honor to serve next to her." More local government news: Columbus Council poised to reject fire truck contract amid Dublin company's worker strike Government and politics reporter Jordan Laird can be reached at jlaird@ Follow her on X, Instagram and Bluesky at @LairdWrites. This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Longtime Franklin County Board of Elections member, a Democrat, dead Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Memphis proposing lucrative offer to join Big 12, but it lacks support from conference leadership: Sources
Memphis has proposed to the Big 12 a lucrative membership proposal — a serious enough endeavor that league presidents met Monday about the offer — but the proposition is not believed to have the necessary support, for now. The proposal from Memphis — one of the most aggressive membership propositions in college athletics history — features hundreds of millions of dollars in sponsorship commitments to the Big 12 from UM-affiliated corporate partners, as well as the school eschewing revenue distribution from the league for at least five years. Multiple sources spoke to Yahoo Sports under condition of anonymity about the proposal, which is the latest and most serious chapter in the school's effort to move out of the American and into one of the four power leagues. This particular effort began more than a year ago. Memphis president Bill Hardgrave has spent at least 14 months visiting with the presidents and top athletic administrators of many Big 12 schools in individual, on-campus meetings that have culminated in a membership offer to the league that is expected to be as high as $200 million over the next five years. Big 12 officials are in the midst of exploring the proposal, but league-wide support is not there, multiple conference officials told Yahoo Sports.. Any expansion move needs the support of a super majority of the league's presidents and chancellors, or 12 of the 16. A more finalized copy of the Memphis proposal was disseminated among conference athletic administrators in the last few days. Over the last 18 months, the conference seriously explored two expansion proposals, from Gonzaga and UConn, only for each to fail to gain the necessary support. This effort is much more lucrative, but hurdles remain. 'I'm not certain it has enough support,' one Big 12 leader told Yahoo Sports over the weekend. 'We vetted Memphis when we added the other four (Cincinnati, UCF, Houston and BYU) and chose not to add them,' said another Big 12 administrator. 'What's changed now?' However, the proposal was attractive enough to garner weeks of exploration from the conference. It comes at a financially stressful time as Big 12 leaders work to compete against the Big Ten and SEC, both with more lucrative television contracts and revenue distributions. The timing is important. On July 1, college athletics launched into a new era in which schools can directly compensate athletes in a capped revenue-sharing system. The industry has never been in a more money-hungry time. Already, Big 12 schools are receiving roughly $1 million in additional revenue from a sponsorship with PayPal. Memphis' proposal would have increased that by at least $2 million with sponsorship commitments from UM partners. The school is notoriously aligned with partners such as FedEx, Lowe's and AutoZone. Memphis' proposal is described as a 'no-risk' concept, according to some in the Big 12, and it also sets a standard, perhaps, of expansion fees to enter a league. The school would (1) take zero distribution for the final five years of the league's new television deal with ESPN and FOX; (2) add the sponsorships in excess of $150 million over five years; and (3) subject itself to expulsion after 2030-31 if Big 12 deems it is not adding value. The sizable offer represents a historic moment in college sports of a school quite literally purchasing their way into a conference — a move that further expounds upon a precedent set by SMU's entrance into the ACC. While SMU agreed to take no league revenue for a stretch of time in the ACC, the school did not arrange millions in sponsorships for the league. The pricy nature of Memphis' offer speaks to its unwavering desire to elevate to a power conference — something the program attempted to do years ago with the ACC. Under Hardgrave and new athletic director Ed Scott, the school has increased investment significantly over the last several years, with financial help from sponsors like FedEx and Lowe's. In fact, with a massive gift from FedEx coming, the UM officials expect to share the full $20.5 million in rev-share with athletes by next year, they have told Big 12 leaders. Any move out of the American would come with another steep price tag. The American exit fee is expected to be at least $25 million - a similar fee that SMU paid the conference upon its departure last year.
Yahoo
7 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Young Kim draws another Democratic challenger in California
A 26-year-old Democratic labor organizer calling for a 'new generation' of leadership in Washington will announce his campaign Monday to unseat GOP Rep. Young Kim in California's Orange County. Perry Meade joins a wide field of challengers running for the 40th District seat held by Kim, one of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's top targets in the state. Kim won the seat by more than 10 percentage points in 2024. But the district has swung back and forth in recent years, with Joe Biden winning it in 2020 before Donald Trump beat Kamala Harris by more than two percentage points there in 2024. Meade, the youngest member of the Democratic Party of Orange County's central committee, is making affordability the thrust of his campaign. In a campaign launch video, he asks, 'Can we just catch a fucking break?' Meade, a labor organizer with UNITE HERE Local 11, said in an interview that he wants to see a Democratic Party in Congress that "unapologetically" fights for affordability, adding that he feels a responsibility to 'fight back.' He took aim at the Trump administration's deployment last month of the National Guard to immigration raid protests in Los Angeles, as well as recent crackdowns at farms and businesses. 'I think it's time that we have a new generation of leaders as well, and a new generation of leaders that has this lived experience and is willing to fight in the halls of Congress to deliver on these things that our community needs,' said Meade, the West Coast regional organizer at March For Our Lives. The Rancho Santa Margarita native joins several Democrats eyeing California's 40th District, including Kim's 2024 challenger, Joe Kerr; former Chino Valley school board member and attorney Christina Gagnier; Los Angeles art dealer Esther Kim Varet; consultant Paula Swift; and entrepreneur and nonprofit leader Nina Linh. Meade's support includes endorsements from Orange County Supervisor Vicente Sarmiento and state Sens. Catherine Blakespear, Sasha Renee Perez and Maria Elena Durazo.
