Local civil rights leaders on Wednesday asked Gov. Nathan Deal to kill a plan to put a monument to Martin Luther King Jr. on top of Stone Mountain.
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Deal has signed off on the bell and tower that celebrates the line in King’s historic “I Have a Dream” speech: “Let freedom ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia”.
They argued that because Stone Mountain is designated by state law as a memorial to the Confederacy, King’s image and words should not be associated with it. They also expressed concern that no civil rights groups were consulted before Sunday’s announcement that a monument was being planned. “The Confederacy, once and for all, should be buried in a museum”.
“At this particular time, we don’t think he has the power himself, but he has the influence”, said Steele. The site is best known for a giant carving of three Confederate figures on horseback spanning three acres of the mountain’s face.
Richard Rose with the Atlanta chapter of the NAACP says they hope to meet with the board as well.
“We are not going to be tilted when you try to mix good with evil”, said John Evans, president of the DeKalb County branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The civil rights groups said they received no promises from Deal.
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The Confederate flag and related symbols have been removed from many public displays since the June shooting deaths of nine black churchgoers in Charleston, South Carolina. Supporters of Confederate heritage rallied this summer at the park, carrying large Rebel flags. Both civil rights groups and Confederate history advocates hate the idea for different reasons. “It’s not the memorial he deserves, and it takes away from the true conversation about addressing these symbols”.
