Posted on 08/14/2017 2:18:10 PM PDT by Drew68
Jacksonville mayor says if City Council passes it, he'll consider signing bill
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The president of Jacksonville City Council on Monday asked several city departments conduct an inventory of all Confederate monuments, memorials and markers on public property with the intention of asking that they be removed.
"At the end of the day, I’d like to move them," President Anna Brosche said. "I’d like to make sure that we can appreciate the history and heritage of what these memorials, monuments and markers mean to city of Jacksonville. At the same time, also realize that these are symbols that evoke a significant amount of negative emotion for some in our community."
Brosche said her action comes after the "horrific and unacceptable incidents" that occurred in Charlottesville, Virginia, and follows the actions of Florida Gov. Jeb Bush and, most recently, the Florida Senate, who removed Confederate items from public places in Tallahassee.
She directed the Parks and Recreation Department and planning division's Historic Preservation Section to inventory of all Confederate monuments, memorials and markers on public property.
"Upon completion of the inventory, I intend to propose legislation to move Confederate monuments, memorials, and markers from public property to museums and educational institutions, where they can be respectfully preserved and historically contextualized," Brosche said in a statement announcing her plan. "It is important to never forget the history of our great city; and, these monuments, memorials and markers represent a time in our history that caused pain to so many."
Mayor Lenny Curry said Monday that the Virginia tragedy was awful and he respects the City Council's role in making law. If Council passes a bill removing the statues, he will review it and decide whether he will sign it.
"I respect the Council’s role in moving forward with priorities that are their priorities that may not be mine," Curry said. "Look, you can’t be all things to all people. And I’m very focused on a city that’s fighting its way out of violence because public safety was gutted."
Community efforts to have the Confederate soldier marker in Hemming Park removed, as well as similar statutes removed and Confederate Park renamed have been gathering momentum.
After Saturday's deadly violence where a car was driven into a group of people protesting a white supremacist rally in defense of a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee on Charlottesville property, Take 'Em Down Jax held an emergency rally that night outside the Jacksonville Landing.
“This hate, we have to confront it. If we don’t, it won't go away," Wells Todd said, a member of Take 'Em Down Jax, told News4Jax earlier this summer.
Lakey Love, with the American Civil Liberties Union, agrees that the monuments should be gone.
"I stand for taking them down. They represent white supremacy, a history of racism -- internment of black and brown people," Love said. "I’m all for taking down anything that represents a historical path that marginalizes people."
There are also people in Jacksonville who oppose moving the statues.
"And even though we might not agree with what has happened in the past, I think it’s still part of history and we should not destroy it," said Brian Buschow said.
Dave Nelson, who sells Confederate historical memorabilia at his store, Uncle Davey’s Americana, supports the historical markers, but not the white nationalists who are linking themselves to Confederate history.
"As far as removing the monuments, that’s very sad because these are monuments to veterans or Confederate soldiers. The U.S. Congress said that all veterans are U.S. veterans," Nelson said.
Because most of these monuments are well over 100 years old, some, including Councilman Jim Love, have speculated that they can't be moved without breaking them.
How other Florida cities are dealing with Confederate monuments
Some other Florida cities have either removed Confederate markers or are in the process of doing so. Work removing "Old Joe" from outside the Alachua County Administration building in Gainesville began Sunday and continued Monday.
The statue is being returned to the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, which erected it in 1904. The County officials said they did not know where the statue would go, the Gainesville Sun reported.
In June, the city of Orlando removed a statue depicts Johnny Reb -- a symbol of the Confederacy and its soldiers -- from Lake Eola Park. The statue was moved to Greenwood Cemetery, where it will be kept in a section dedicated to Confederate veterans.
In Tampa, a passer-by called 911 after seeing that paint had been tossed on and around the Confederate memorial's columns and derogatory comments were scrawled in paint, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said in a news release. The site is on private property near Tampa on Florida's west coast.
Hillsborough County commissioners voted on July 19 to remove a different monument in the county, this one in downtown Tampa and on county property, after several heated meetings filled with public discussion.
The 60-foot-tall granite column, topped by a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier, has been in Jacksonville's Hemming Plaza for nearly 120 years. It’s the site of a monument to Women of the Confederacy that was dedicated in 1915 and a historical marker placed by the Sons of Confederate Veterans to commemorate the May 1914 national reunion of Confederate veterans that took place in Jacksonville.
In March, the Jacksonville City Council Neighborhoods Committee asked the full council to withdraw a bill to designate Hemming Park’s confederate monument as a historical landmark.
Others markers in parks and public areas around the city include a tribute to the women of the Confederacy in Confederate Park and the Gen. Joseph Finnegan grave monument in Jacksonville's Old City Cemetery.
Is it your testimony here that the U.S. constitution does NOT include references to slavery, or is that just the impression you would like to leave with the unsuspecting?
Yes, but after the War Lincoln decided we should all be Americans again... Robert E Lee was allowed to keep his sword and his men were not further humiliated in defeat. Today’s democrats would have kicked Lee and pissed on him. Thank God modern democrats weren’t around back then...
http://www.exploresouthernhistory.com/appomattoxsurrender.html
“The generous terms offered to General Lee by General Grant did much to ease tensions among the Confederates. Provided with rations by the Federals, they signed their paroles and began making their long trips home.”
The only way to stop democrat haters is to totally destroy the democrat party. Vote everyone of them out of office...
“With malice toward none, with charity for all”
after 750,000 dead, a peace was established.
Those who continue to harp that the War Figures are traitors have no place in Lincoln’s America. They reject the Reconciliation.
Includes the talking heads, the Commie rioters, and some of the posters on here.
The trouble was, a peace could have been established with no casualties. There was no need for such a horrible war.
Those who continue to harp that the War Figures are traitors have no place in Lincoln’s America. They reject the Reconciliation.
Are you familiar with the term "Waving the bloody shirt." ? Yeah, people still do that.
meanwhile, some guy I am acquainted with from Brown Univ who just graduated from UVA Law is on the web weeping about R.E. Lee being a symbol of hate.
How about William Marcy, Brown 1808, NY politician, ran for president 1852, pro-slavery. Marcy House, Freshman dorm, still named after him.
And what about Lewis Cass. Pro-slavery. from Michigan. get his statue out of the US Capitol !!!
There are people in positions of influence in the regular media and the social media who are trying to trigger a "preference cascade."
They know people are dumb, and so they use the most easily identifiable people they can find to use as the face of their propaganda. George Washington was also a slave owner from Virginia, as was Thomas Jefferson.
Problem is, they would get nowhere trying to gen up hatred against Washington and Jefferson, so they look for an easier scapegoat to generate their hate.
We are all being manipulated by forces in control of the communication infrastructure so as to benefit Democrats in the next election.
It's what they do, and I used to think it was a consequence of personal bias on the part of the people they hire. (Group think.)
In the last year or so I began to believe that the media is liberal precisely because it benefits the political and economic interests of their owners, who make a lot of money from excessive government spending and a failure to balance the budget.
JACKSONville? Like in Jesse Jackson?
when the war and depression comes, higher education will fade due to lack of funding. And the wealthy will change their tune when their country is severely damaged.
it is luxury for middle America
the state college near me, the students tend to work full-time and take about 3 classes at a time and graduate in 7 years.
they hate activism cuz they are too busy and find it a campus annoyance
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