A 98-year-old Tribute to the Women of the Southern Confederacy statue has been pulled from its pedestal in Jacksonville, Florida, with Democrat Mayor Donna Deegan its removal “signal[s] a belief in our shared humanity”.
“Symbols matter. They tell the world what we stand for and what we aspire to be,” Deegan said, claiming the statue’s removal was “not in any way an attempt to erase history but to show that we’ve learned from it.”
The memorial was removed without reference to the City Council, which rejected a request for $1.3 million to pay for its removal in 2021.
Deegan convinced Jacksonville’s Office of General Counsel she had the authority to remove the statue on her own, after the 904WARD nonprofit said they would cover the removal costs with $187,000 bill with money provided by the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and other donors.
Florida Rep. Dean Black described the statue’s removal, undertaken “during the holidays, without consultation of city leaders or a vote by the council,” as an example of “woke Democrats” being obsessed with “tearing down history.”
Florida Governor and presidential hopeful Ron DeSantis, who has presented himself as an anti-woke crusader, has not intervened.
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