STATE OF GEORGIA TO REMOVE HISTORIC STONE MOUNTAIN CARVINGS OF JEFFERSON DAVIS, ROBERT E. LEE AND STONEWALL JACKSON
The “Confederate Memorial Carving” in a state park outside of Atlanta is once again stirring controversy, as Georgia officials announce the huge sculpture that memorializes three of the South’s Civil War heroes but causes offense to blacks and others will be removed.
Chiseled into a side of Stone Mountain, the carving of Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson spans three acres and is the largest high-relief sculpture in the world — even larger than Mount Rushmore.
Controversial since its 1970 unveiling, the sculpture has drawn renewed scrutiny since the massacre of nine black worshippers at a church in South Carolina last month.
The Atlanta NAACP called this month for the carving’s removal along with dozens of Confederate monuments on government property around the state. Atlanta’s city council this week urged Gov. Nathan Deal to study additions of famous Georgians such as Martin Luther King Jr. to the Stone Mountain carving.
“At some point in Georgia’s history, people found it necessary to honor this particular period,” Atlanta councilman Michael Bond said. “We’re saying: Georgia is more than that. Let’s honor what’s best about our history and remove these racist monuments.”