ABC News: “A park near Atlanta with a giant carving of Confederate leaders would publicly acknowledge that it was a gathering spot for the Ku Klux Klan, relocate Confederate flags and remove the carving from its logo under proposals unveiled Monday to address criticism of its Confederate legacy.
Stone Mountain Memorial Association CEO Bill Stephens presented the proposals to the park’s board, saying Stone Mountain needed to change to remain financially viable but couldn’t “cancel history.” The board did not immediately vote on any of them.
The park 15 miles (25 kilometers) northeast of downtown Atlanta is a popular hiking and tourist destination but is replete with Confederate imagery, including a colossal sculpture of Gen. Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis and Gen. Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson on the mountain’s northern face. It is the largest Confederate monument ever crafted.
The proposals come amid a national reckoning on race that brought down dozens of Confederate monuments in a span of weeks last year. Some speakers at Monday’s meeting said the changes before the board didn’t go far enough.
Many of the Confederate monuments that are now controversial were erected in the early 1900s by groups composed of women and veterans. Some honor generals or soldiers; others bear inscriptions that critics say wrongly gloss over slavery as a reason for the war or portray the Confederate cause as noble. Stone Mountain’s carving — which measures 190 feet (58 meters) across and 90 feet (27 meters) tall — was completed in 1972 and shows the three Confederate leaders mounted on horseback.
The celebration of the Confederacy at the park is used to “oppress people,” said Bona Allen, with the grassroots group Stone Mountain Action Coalition.
“You, this board, have the responsibility to the citizens of the state of Georgia — all the citizens of Georgia — to do what’s right right now,” he said. “You have the authority, you have the ability, you have the obligation to remove these symbols without delay.””