Atlanta-area artist Mack Williams created this illustration to show his plans to add the hip hop group, OutKast, to the side of Stone Mountain.
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Williams acknowledges that the monument poses different challenges than does the Confederate flag itself, which has been the topic of hot debate across the South since Dylann Roof admitted to killing nine parishioners at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina.
Williams and his 8,500 supporters feel that Atlanta and Savannah natives Andre 3000 and Big Boi will benefit the tourist attraction by honoring the duo’s contribution to Georgia.
There is a long racial history connected to Stone Mountain.
“By no means do we wish to erase or destroy the current carving, which, regardless of its context, is an impressive and historic work of art”, the MoveOn.com petition says.
The Atlanta chapter of the NAACP is attempting to do just that with a petition to have the massive carving of Confederate leaders Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson on the face of Stone Mountain in Georgia removed. The organizers will present the petition to the Georgia State Senate and Gov. Nathan Deal when it gathers 10,000 names. “There’s plenty of room”, says the tongue-in-cheek petition initiated by a man named Mack Williams.
As he wrote in his petition, “I believe it’s important to recognize the history and heritage of all Georgians. It’s about time the Empire State of the South paid proper tribute to them”.
Rep. Hank Johnson, D-Ga., who serves the district in which the mountain sits, told local radio station V-103 that he is “not so much affected by Stone Mountain Park as I am by the flag flying at an official government building like a state capitol or even the federal Capitol, a position, the seat of government”. The decision has energized several signers, who enthusiastically endorsed the idea.
The poll now has more than 3,900 signatures.
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The city of Stone Mountain is now around 75% African American.
