More than 160 Confederate symbols were removed from public spaces last year or renamed after the death of George Floyd, more than the previous four years combined, a watchdog group said Tuesday.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which works to remove confederate statues and monuments, released the findings as part of a report on the status of the symbols.
The non-profit organization, based in Montgomery, Ala., Began tracking down Confederate symbols after a white supremacist killed nine Black worshipers in 2015 in a deep-seated African-American church in Charleston, SC.
In the group’s “Whose heritage?” report, the Law Center said that last year was transformative, but that hundreds of symbols of the Confederacy remained.
“These dehumanizing symbols of pain and oppression continue to serve as backdrops for important government buildings, halls of justice, public parks and U.S. military real estate, including ten bases named after the Confederate leaders in the south,” said Lecia Brooks, chief of staff at the center. , said. , said in a statement.
All 168 symbols, except one, which were eliminated in 2020, were removed or renamed after the death of Mr. Floyd in the custody of police in Minneapolis in May, a moment that catalyzed widespread protests over systemic racism and police brutality. It also renewed a settlement of symbols of the Confederacy and its meaning.
Virginia took the lead in the number of symbols removed with 71 last year, followed by North Carolina with 24 and then Alabama and Texas with 12 each, the report said.
Larry McCluney Jr., the commander-in-chief of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, criticized the movement for taking down statues and memorials.
“So you would say that there was a war and that there was only one side?” Mr. McCluney said in an interview Tuesday night. “We are trying to purify or disinfect American history.”
Mr McCluney said it was unreasonable to judge Confederate leaders by contemporary social standards. He also claims that many soldiers who fought for the South in the Civil War were buried in unmarked graves and deserve to be commemorated.
“Is it fair in 200 years from now to judge us?” he said. “They were men of their time.”
The law center said 31 public schools are expected to change their names this year to sever ties with their Confederate heritage.
Last year, a 131-year-old statue commemorating the Confederate soldiers was removed on June 2 in Alexandria, Virginia. Protesters in Richmond, Virginia, overturned a Jefferson Davis statue on June 10 and vandalized other Confederate monuments. On June 13, a statue of Davis was removed from the Kentucky Capitol Rotunda.
A statue depicting a Confederate soldier holding a gun in his hands was removed from Charlottesville, Va. In September.
Several other Confederate monuments and memorials in several states were covered in graffiti during protest rallies, which spread to other people and institutions considered a racist past.
In one case, a Confederate statue did not fall among protesters or politicians, but on Mother Earth: Hurricane Laura caused a 105-year-old statue to tumble in Lake Charles, La, in August.
Some settings that have long supported the images have changed their tune.
In late June, Mississippi removed the Confederate symbol from its state flag. And this month, North Carolina said the use of a special license plate with the Confederate combat flag has been discontinued.
NASCAR banned the flag of its events and properties in June. The announcement prompted President Trump in part to defend the flag, which began with a consistent backlash against attempts to remove the Confederate symbols.
His attitude brings him into conflict with his army. On June 6, the US Marine Corps banned the display of the flag at marine installations. On July 17, the Pentagon banned exhibitions on military installations around the world, Mr. Trump’s opposition sidestepped and preceded similar actions by the military.
Military leaders have indicated they are open to renaming ten army bases named after the Confederate leaders, but Mr. Trump rejected the attempts.
Mr. Trump also vetoed an annual military policy bill that includes a dual provision to strip the names of Confederate leaders of bases, but the House and Senate violated the veto.
Speaker Nancy Pelosi requested that 11 statues of Confederate figures be removed from the U.S. Capitol, not for the first time, but managed to remove only four portraits.
The Law Center said progress had been made in removing associated relics, but the group expressed concern about the symbols displayed during the January 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol.
One man, who was later arrested, carried the Confederate battle flag inside the building.
‘As testified on January 6, when an insurgent carried a Confederate flag through the corridors of the American Capitol, the Confederate symbols are a form of systemic racism used to intimidate, instill, and blacken black people. recall that they have no place in American society. It’s me. Brooks said.