We can achieve racial justice by creating public spaces free of malice
that we all can enjoy and be proud of.
Friend,
Despite the trauma they inflict on Black and Brown communities,
several Southern states continue to observe "Confederate
Memorial Day"
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in April that glorifies and whitewashes the shameful legacy of the
Confederacy. The true legacy of the Confederacy, which is often
minimized or erased completely by these celebrations, was to preserve
the institution of slavery and promote white supremacy.
Strong progress toward removing Confederate iconography from the
American landscape - a critical part of telling the hard history
of slavery and racism in this country - has been made, yet
Southern states continue to block the removal of Confederate symbols.
Currently, seven states (Alabama
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, Arkansas
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, Georgia
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, Mississippi
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, North Carolina
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, South Carolina
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and Tennessee
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) have enacted preservation laws to block the removal of Confederate
memorials. This legislation is designed to deny the will of
communities who do not want symbols that glorify white supremacy
littering their public spaces by forcing the symbols to remain in
place.
These regressive preservation laws were enacted between 2000 and 2021
- more than 135 years after the Civil War was lost - to
keep false heroes on a pedestal. But Americans recognize these symbols
represent hate instead of heritage and do not tell our entire, shared
history.
The SPLC has tracked public symbols of the Confederacy across the
United States through our Whose Heritage?
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research project since 2015. New?data
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shows that 48 Confederate symbols were removed, renamed or relocated
from public spaces last year.
* 16 of those symbols were Confederate monuments. Comparatively,
17 Confederate statues were removed in 2021.
* For the third straight year, Virginia leads the nation by
removing 13 Confederate symbols from public spaces. Louisiana
and North Carolina tied at seven for second place, and New York
and Texas tied at five for third place.
* Out of the more than 2,600 Confederate symbols that are still
publicly present across the U.S., 47 symbols are still pending
removal in 11 states: Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
North Carolina, New York, Pennsylvania, South Carolina,
Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia, as well as Puerto Rico.
* Ten of the 47 symbols pending removal are schools that are
expected to be renamed in Alabama (1), Georgia (1), South
Carolina (4) and Virginia (4).
* A total of 482 Confederate symbols have been removed, renamed,
or relocated from public spaces following the Charleston
massacre on June 17, 2015.
These are just a few examples of the extraordinary work being done by
communities across the South and beyond, rejecting revisionist history
and removing Confederate memorials in all their inhumane forms.
Last year, a federal Naming Commission identified
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more than 800 items honoring the Confederacy on military property.
The fact that they are located in 20 states and Washington, D.C., as
well as Germany and Japan, reveal just how deeply rooted white
supremacy culture has been within military ranks. As the military
works to remove all Confederate iconography by the Naming
Commission's January 2024 deadline, the SPLC will continue to
support and encourage local activists who are challenging this age-old
propaganda campaign.
We can achieve racial justice by creating public spaces free of malice
that we all can enjoy and be proud of. To learn more about Whose
Heritage? and how you can support work to remove public Confederate
symbols, check out our Whose Heritage? resources here.
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We understand that this work is not easy. Please know that we support
you and will not stop fighting alongside you until every Confederate
symbol is removed from public spaces.
In solidarity,
Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center
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