Friend,

Celebrated in seven Southern states in April and May, Confederate History Month has endured for decades, in reverence of the “Lost Cause,” the false narrative that the Civil War was a heroic endeavor fought not to maintain the enslavement of Black people but rather to defend the region against Northern aggression.

To build on the growing movement aimed at stopping the public celebration of Confederate icons and history, the Southern Poverty Law Center on April 27 kicked off a billboard campaign in Florence, Alabama, where the local advocacy group Project Say Something in 2017 initially appealed for the contextualization of the Confederate monument that sits in front of the Lauderdale County courthouse.

After city and county officials refused to remove or relocate the monument last year, advocates in Florence, along with others across the South, joined forces with the SPLC’s billboard campaign to bury the “Lost Cause” myth.

As Confederate symbols and monuments continue to be removed from public land after the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, the SPLC hopes that its billboard campaign in several Southern states will help propel local grassroots movements by helping others understand that Confederate monuments and symbols legitimatize racial hierarchy and white supremacist ideology.

“Over the past few years, we’ve seen a significant number of organized efforts by community groups calling on their local governments to remove monuments and other symbols honoring the Confederacy from their courthouses, town squares, university buildings and other public spaces,” said Shay Farley, the SPLC’s regional policy director. “While notable success has been achieved, community groups across the South continue to encounter resistance from local and state officials.”

Showing love

In Alamance County, North Carolina, a Confederate soldier is mounted 30 feet high on a single column in front of the courthouse. A carving of two Confederate flags is etched into the column’s concrete base, which contains the names of more than 1,000 Confederate soldiers who fought in the Civil War. Engraved on the monument is an inscription by the United Daughters of the Confederacy that reads, “To commemorate with grateful love the patriotism, valor and devotion to duty of the brave soldiers of Alamance County.”

The North Carolina Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparities in the Criminal Justice System (NC CRED) has begun a conversation within the community about the state’s decision to celebrate Confederate Memorial Day on May 10.

“Obviously, we thought it was despicable, disgraceful and unpatriotic that North Carolina in 2021 was still honoring the Confederacy and what it stood for by observing a state holiday,” said James Williams, 70, a founding member and board chair of NC CRED.

After learning of the SPLC’s billboard campaign, Williams, a Black man, saw an opportunity to not only push for the removal of the courthouse monument but also to call attention to North Carolina for continuing the holiday.

“Unfortunately, the all-white Alamance County Board of Commissioners has steadfastly refused to remove the monument,” Williams said. “Authorities have also persecuted and prosecuted those protesting to have the monument removed.”

The Alamance County billboard installed on May 10 uses the slogan, “Show Love for All.” The theme, Williams said, reflects the idea that by removing the monument, the county can show love for members of the Black community.

“We wanted a message that would resonate with a broad population, would be easily embraced by them, and that would cause them to want to support the effort,” he said. “As Dr. King said, ‘Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.’ So, we led with love as a metaphor for driving out the hatred that this monument represents.”

Williams noted that North Carolina’s decision to celebrate Confederate Memorial Day is an “assault to the dignity and humanity of Black people, but also to all Americans who believe in the concepts of fairness, equality and inclusion.”

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In solidarity,

Your friends at the Southern Poverty Law Center