Change or Remove Stone Mountain Confederate Carving

Change or Remove Stone Mountain Confederate Carving

Started
June 4, 2017
Petition to
Stone Mountain Memorial Association State of Georgia and 26 others
Signatures: 9,580Next Goal: 10,000
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Why this petition matters

Started by Committee on Stone Mountain

Today, The Confederate Carving on Stone Mountain has been re-branded with laser shows, animated with colored beams of lights. The Confederate Carving is being glorified and celebrated as if the cause of the Civil War was not over.

Our goal is to make the Stone Mountain Confederate Carving more inclusive and to change its designation. Who should be included in the carving on Stone Mountain? Native Americans, African Americans, women, Lincoln, Sherman, Grant. The carving should be removed if it cannot be made more representative of the Civil War history. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dl9Cw7G_oa0

The men in the Confederate Carving on Stone Mountain were not from Georgia. The capitol of the Confederate States of America was not in Georgia. There were no battles in Georgia led by General Robert E. Lee, nor General Stonewall Jackson. There was no major Civil War battle at Stone Mountain. In addition, there were no soldiers buried at Stone Mountain Park. So why is Stone Mountain Park designated a Confederate Memorial?

We do not seek to destroy history, but to make it more inclusive and realistic. The defenders of the status quo, seek to re-brand the legacy of the Confederacy and the Civil War. The reality is that both the Union and Confederate monuments do not truly represent or do justice to our story. The Union won the war, the slaves were freed, and the Confederacy was re-admitted into the Union. President Lincoln in his Gettysburg address reminded us that America was "...conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal". The Confederate States of America sought to spread slavery and had it placed in the Confederate Constitution.  Every time we go to war, we change history.

In 1915, Samuel Venable the principal owner of Stone Mountain was a member of the Klan and hosted KKK events on his mountain for decades afterwards. Both Venable and the carving sculptor Gutzon Borglum were associated with the KKK. The KKK was a terrorist group who believed in white supremacy and race separation.

The Venable Brothers deeded the north face of the mountain to the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1916 to create the carving. The UDC established the Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial Association (SMCMA) for fundraising and on-site supervision of the project. The Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial Association was packed with KKK members. In 1958, the State of Georgia purchased Stone Mountain. However, the Confederate Carving was not completed until 1972.

The story of Stone Mountain actually predates both the first white settlers and the Creek Indians before them. At least 12 Archaic Indian sites have been identified in the vicinity of Stone Mountain. Crystal Mountain was the name given it in 1567 when Spanish explorer Juan Pardo visited it, in search of the Moundbuilder civilization discovered by deSoto on an earlier trip. The Moundbuilders were gone, replaced by Creek Indians who called the peak Lone Mountain and used the easily spotted mountain as a meeting place. In the early 19th century, the area was known as Rock Mountain. Woodland Indians built a rock wall, encircling the top of the mountain. By the beginning of the 20th century the wall had disappeared.

At the beginning of the Civil War, 22 million people lived in the North and 9 million people (4 million of whom were slaves) lived in the South. About 2.75 million soldiers fought in the Civil War 2 million for the North and 750,000 for the South. Over ninety-five percent of African Americans lived in the South.

Approximately 620,000 soldiers died from combat, accident, starvation, and disease during the Civil War. By the end of the Civil War, roughly179,000 black men (10% of the Union Army) served as soldiers in the U.S. Army and another 19,000 served in the Navy. Nearly 40,000 black soldiers died over the course of the war—30,000 of infection or disease. Even though a majority of African Americans lived in the South, the racism was so deep that African Americans were not allowed to join the Confederate army or have weapons. They served only in support roles. 28,693 Native Americans served in the Union and Confederate armies during the Civil War. 250 documented cases of women serving as soldiers in the Civil War but it is suspected there were many more than that.

Some say let it be, why make trouble? just except things as they are.

"There are those that look at things the way they are, and ask why? I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?" -- JFK

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O Say Can We See By The Dawn's Early Light:  What is Wrong with the Confederate Flag and the Carving?  https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B6rHTsNOsLE_TE5NMHJlb3VPS1U/view?usp=sharing

 

 

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Signatures: 9,580Next Goal: 10,000
Support now
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Decision Makers

  • Jon BurnsGA State Representative
  • State of GeorgiaStone Mountain Memorial Association
  • David RalstonState House of Representatives - Georgia-007
  • Christian CoomerState Representative
  • Matt HatchettState House of Representatives - Georgia-150