A Mississippi town has finally taken down a Confederate monument that was built in 1910 and stood in front of the courthouse ever since. The Confederate statue in Grenada, Mississippi, has been wrapped in tarps since 2020, when the killing of George Floyd sent America into protests for the entire summer.

According to AP, Charles Latham, Grenada’s first Black mayor in 20 years, is following through with the city’s plans to move the monument by preparing a location behind a fire station about 3.5 miles from the square.

In 2020, after the George Floyd protests, the Grenada City Council voted to move the monument, following Mississippi legislators’ decision to retire the state flag that featured the Confederate battle emblem.

Republican lawmakers in the state are pushing back, claiming the relocation violates state law, which restricts the relocation of war memorials or monuments. But, the Mayor seems determined to move forward, calling the monument “quite a divisive figure.”

“I understand people had family and stuff to fight and die in that war, and they should be proud of their family,” Latham told AP. “But you’ve got to understand that there were those who were oppressed by this, by the Confederate flag on there. There’s been a lot of hate and violence perpetrated against people of color under the color of that flag.”

Robin Whitfield, an artist that works from a studio near Grenada’s square, said she’s happy to see the statue moved. “I’m glad to see it move to a different location,” Whitfield told AP. “This represents that something has changed.”

But everyone hasn’t been so open to the change.

Rep. Stacey Hobgood-Wilkes of Picayune said moving the monument to the fire station was inappropriate, suggesting a Confederate cemetery as a better location.

“We are prepared to pursue such avenues that may be necessary to ensure that the statue is relocated to a more suitable and appropriate location,” she said.

Mayor Latham originally advocated for the idea of moving the monument to the cemetery but said there wasn’t time to change after the city budgeted $60,000 for the move, according to AP.

“So, who’s going to pay the city back for the $30,000 we’ve already expended to relocate this?” Latham said. “You should’ve showed up a year and a half ago, two years ago, before the city gets to this point.”

America has an interesting relationship with Confederate history and legacy.

According to a poll by the nonpartisan Public Religion Research Institute, 58% of white Americans support efforts to preserve the legacy and the history of the Confederacy, while only 25% of Black Americans support the same notion.

As previously reported on NewsOne, overall, the poll found that Americans are divided over whether the country should protect Confederate history and legacy. The issue was also highly polarized by party, race and region.

Americans from Southern states (58%) are more likely than Americans elsewhere (50%) to support efforts to preserve the legacy of the Confederacy.

Age also played a factor as Gen Z (41%) is the only generation without majority support for preserving the legacy of the Confederacy, compared with two-thirds of the Silent Generation (62%), 58% of Gen X, 56% of baby boomers and 51% of millennials.

SEE ALSO:

John Lewis Statute Replaces Confederate Monument In Georgia

58% Of White Americans Support Protecting Confederate History And Legacy, Poll Finds

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