Atlanta NAACP Says “They Can Sand Blast Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Jackson” Off Stone Mountain

The Atlanta Chapter of the NAACP is calling for the removal of the Confederacy from Stone Mountain Park. Local chapter president Richard Rose says, “It is time for Georgia and other Southern states to end the glorification of slavery and white supremacy, paid for and maintained, with the taxes of all its citizens.” According to Rose, “all of this recognition of Confederate generals is upholding the white supremacy on which the Confederacy was founded and the war was fought.” He goes on to say, “all of this should have ended in 1865 when Lee surrendered to Appomattox.” {snip}

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Georgia removed the Confederate emblem from its flag in 2001, though the “Stars and Bars” from the First National Confederate Flag remain on the state flag. The Confederate Flag still flies at Stone Mountain Park, which is owned by and run by the State of Georgia. Many, like Congressman Hank Johnson, see the park as a museum for the Confederacy. According to Johnson, “where do we draw the line, do we blast the faces off of Stone Mountain?” Rose says “yes”. He adds, “they can sand blast Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Jackson off tomorrow. I’d be extremely elated.”

Rose calls it “unfair, unfortunate, and unconscionable for the State of Georgia and any other government to continue to commemorate and spend taxpayer dollars in upholding and preserving Confederate monuments and symbols including the flag.” On any government property, Rose says, “those symbols should be eradicated.”

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