Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer said Monday he will move a Confederate statue from Lake Eola Park to Greenwood Cemetery, amid renewed outcry from those who argue the century-old memorial is a symbol of racism.
Dyer’s plan emerged during a sometimes-contentious hearing at the conclusion of the City Council meeting. Supporters, some waving Confederate battle flags, and opponents of the statue flooded the council chambers and staged competing protests outside City Hall.
“I believe this proposal balances the inclusive morals of our community today, while carefully preserving historic artifacts from our past that can be used to further educate and serve as important lessons in today’s society,” Dyer said.
The question of what to do with the statue wasn’t on the council’s agenda, but after journalist David Porter posted on social media last week that he planned to call on the city to remove it, people on both sides of the debate turned out in droves.
Many argued the statue should stay where it stands, on the east side of the downtown park near North Eola Drive. Supporters argued the statue doesn’t glorify racism but rather honors soldiers who died.
“They were all Americans, whether they fought for the North or the South,” said Bill Krause, a retired American history teacher for Orange County Public Schools. “They didn’t choose where they were born and lived.”
However, Porter and others argued the statue is a symbol of slavery, white supremacy and a dark era of Orlando’s past. Porter noted the monument was moved to the park just three years before the 1920 lynching of July Perry, a black man killed after attempting to vote in Ocoee.
“This is not ancient history,” said Porter, a former member of the Orlando Sentinel's Editorial Board.
Dyer said Monday he views the statue and others like it as “historical markers,” but acknowledged that some people find them offensive. Moving the statue to an area of Greenwood Cemetery already set aside for Confederate dead is a “totally appropriate” solution, he said.
The marble statue, known as “Johnny Reb,” was commissioned by a local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy. It was first erected on Main Street — now Magnolia Avenue — in 1911, before being moved to Lake Eola Park in 1917.
Dyer’s decision to move the statue doesn’t require the council’s approval. Even so, three city commissioners voiced support for the plan, giving Dyer a majority. Commissioners Jim Gray and Tony Ortiz opposed moving the statue, while Robert Stuart said he was torn.
The mayor said the city’s initial estimates suggested moving the statue would cost about $120,000, though its need of repairs could drive up the price. Dyer did not commit to a timetable for moving it.
During the meeting, many in the council chambers wore shirts or hats featuring the Confederate flag. One man, Benjamin Mills of Bartow, attended the meeting in full Civil War-era military attire. He said two of his great grandfathers fought for the South, but not for slavery.
“My grandfather never owned a slave. He didn’t own shoes until he went and joined the army,” Mills said.
Among those who spoke at Monday’s meeting were several current members of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, including the chapter that commissioned the statue. Most argued the keep the statue at the park, but one local chapter president sided with Dyer’s plan.
In 2015, Organize Now launched a petition drive asking for the statue to be moved to a museum, in the wake of the racially motivated massacre of nine people at a church in Charleston, S.C. Counter-petitions to keep the statue in place at the downtown park also garnered support.
The Lake Eola statue is a local flashpoint in an ongoing nationwide debate about whether to preserve monuments to the Civil War South. On Saturday, torch-carrying demonstrators reportedly marched in Charlottesville, Va., to protest a vote to remove a statue of Robert E. Lee.
In February, the Orange County School Board voted to rename Lee Middle School, which had been named after the Confederate general prior to opening in 1956. Officials also moved a Confederate cannon that had been in the school’s courtyard to Greenwood Cemetery.
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