Friend,
The Confederacy's legacy of brutality and racial subjugation must always be remembered - but it should never be celebrated.
Yet today, four states - Alabama, Florida, Georgia and Mississippi - are officially celebrating "Confederate Memorial Day." (A handful of other states observe a similar holiday on different dates.) The Civil War has been over for more than 155 years, but the Confederacy continues to be publicly honored in some parts of this country.
But there is hope. Many Americans are taking action to counter the false narratives spread by Confederate sympathizers, and Black people are often leading the way. Communities are coming together to create more inclusive public spaces that reflect liberation, not oppression.
In 2020, 170 Confederate symbols were removed from the U.S. landscape. This year, 31 Confederate memorials have been removed or are pending removal. The SPLC has been cataloging the placement - and removal - of Confederate images and monuments across the country since 2012, as part of our Whose Heritage? project, launched in the wake of the Charleston church massacre.
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One of the Confederate monuments still standing lies in Florence, Alabama - but hopefully not for much longer.
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Today, we unveiled a roadside billboard in Florence urging the removal of the monument.
Every year, we struggle with how best to acknowledge the continued existence of Confederate Memorial Day without contributing to the spread of disinformation and racial animosity peddled by Confederate sympathizers. We condemn Confederate Memorial Day, but more importantly, we are working to remove the thousands of Confederate symbols that still litter our public spaces.
We recognize that removing these symbols is only the first step. We must work for racial justice and an honest reckoning with our country's past and present. That cannot be accomplished by removing a memorial or renaming a school, but it is a necessary step. And we are proud to have the support of you and millions of other like-minded people in this fight.
In solidarity,
Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center
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