We, the undersigned, call on Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, and the Board of Directors of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association, to take immediate action to completely remove all Confederate flags and symbols as well as the names of Confederate leaders and KKK supporters from Stone Mountain Park no later than the end of 2023.

Although privately run, the park is owned by the state, supported by taxpayer dollars, and overseen by a Board of Directors appointed by the governor. Visitors and employees should not have to confront offensive, racist symbols to enjoy a public park. These Confederate symbols have already been banned by organizations such as the United States Military, Walmart and NASCAR and it is unacceptable that a state-supported public park fly these flags and memorialize leaders of the confederacy, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) and other racists.

If all Confederate, KKK and other racist symbols are not completely removed (not just relocated within the park) by the end of 2023, those of us who have signed this petition will no longer spend money in the park and will publicly call on all organizations to cease doing business with the park and those that operate it.

BACKGROUND:

As noted by the Atlanta History Center, “Stone Mountain -- the world’s largest granite outcrop – is a natural wonder turned Confederate monument.” Long before European settlers came upon the mountain, it had served for thousands of years as an important meeting place for Indigenous peoples. Ceded to the U.S. federal government in the 1821 Treaty of Indian Springs, native Americans gave way to European settlers who settled at the base of the granite outcrop. Operated as a quarry for many years, the effort to create a Confederate monument on Stone Mountain began in the 1910s at the height of the effort by organizations such as the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) to reimagine the Civil War as a conflict about states rights and tariffs rather than slavery. In 1915, the KKK was relaunched as a violent, white supremacist organization atop of Stone Mountain and continued for years to hold cross burnings and other ceremonies meant to terrorize and marginalize Blacks. In the 50s, faced by a burgeoning civil rights movement, the state of Georgia bought Stone Mountain with the aim of creating the long dreamed of memorial to the Confederacy. Stone Mountain Park officially opened in April 1965, approximately 100 years after Lincoln's assassination. Seven years later, in 1972, the massive bas relief sculpture of three heroes of the Confederacy, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson, was completed. Sadly, the park continues to be a gathering place for white supremacist groups, requiring it to close several times in recent years out of concern for public safety. Although the sculpture itself is protected by state law (which also must be changed), there is nothing preventing the Governor and the Board overseeing the park from removing other Confederate symbols and names from the park immediately. https://www.atlantahistorycenter.com/app/uploads/2021/01/Condensed-history-of-Stone-Mountain.pdf

As further evidence that the State of Georgia is a welcoming, diverse, and inclusive place to live and do business and out of concern for public safety, it is well past time for the Governor and the Stone Mountain Memorial Association Board of Directors to act.

The Stone Mountain Action Coalition (SMAC) is a movement dedicated to a more inclusive Stone Mountain Park centered on the principles of healing, transformation and progress. SMAC membership is comprised of a diverse coalition of concerned citizens, political leaders, community organizations, faith-based groups and businesses who are dedicated to supporting constructive solutions and ideas that reflect a new, shared vision for the Park. https://stonemountainaction.org/