Cleveland City Council Votes to Create Task Force to Decide Future of Confederate Monument
Eryn Cooper and Stephanie LaChance, WTVC, August 24, 2020
Cleveland City Council has voted 4-3 to create a task force to help decide what will happen to a Confederate monument near Lee University.
Several groups like Emancipate Cleveland have asked city council to relocate the statue to an educational venue like a museum.
Kezmond Pugh, member of Emancipate Cleveland, said that the city needs to make progress when it comes to racial injustice in their community.
“We are in a divide. A city we knew that had racial tension that laid dormant. But now the monument situation has come up we’ve seen a huge spark in racial problems,” Pugh said.
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Vice Mayor Avery Johnson suggested City Council should get together a task force with members of NAACP, Emancipate Cleveland and City Council to talk about how to move forward.
Before the vote, City Councilman Bill Estes shared a proposal to address calls to relocate the monument {snip}