A Confederate memorial in Jacksonville, Florida, that’s been fought over for years was dismantled on Wednesday after the city’s mayor stepped in and ordered its removal.
The massive monument, dubbed “In Memory of Our Women of the Southland,” was located in Springfield Park, whose name had already been changed from Confederate Park after an outcry.
“By removing the confederate monument from Springfield Park, we signal a belief in our shared humanity,” Mayor Donna Deegan said in a statement. “That we are all created equal. This is not in any way an attempt to erase history but to show that we’ve learned from it. That when we know better, we do better by and for each other.”
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The Jacksonville city council had previously balked at Deegan’s bid to remove the statue, which has been the site of protests over the years. The mayor ultimately sidestepped their authority.
“Mayor Deegan has the authority as executive of the City—and because city funds are not being utilized—to control the property, the park, and the monument,” General Counsel Michael Fackler said in a statement.
Instead, the removal process is being paid for with $187,000 in private funding via a grant from the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and donations to 904WARD, an organization dedicated to combatting racism in Jacksonville.
“Confederate monuments, often erected during periods of racial tension and division, serve as painful reminders of a divisive past and contribute to a climate that perpetuates inequality,” 904WARD said in a statement.
The removal comes after a gunman fired a swastika-covered rifle inside a Florida Dollar General earlier this year, killing three Black shoppers. Other racist attacks and incidents have targeted minority communities across Jacksonville in the months prior.
“My prayer today is for our beautiful city to continue embracing unity and bending the arc of history towards justice,” Deegan said in her statement. “Let’s keep lifting as we climb.”
