Posted on August 25, 2020

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}