Decatur Reps Sponsor Bill Outlawing Confederate Symbols

ATLANTA --Two Decatur state representatives are sponsoring a bill now before the General Assembly that would outlaw Confederate symbols on public property, making it a crime to even fly the flag on private property. House Bill 175 would only allow displaying the flag in museums and Civil War battlefields.

The bill's primary sponsor is state Rep. Renita Shannon (D-84). Also supporting the bill is state Rep. Mary Margaret Oliver (D-82).

At Stone Mountain, the proposal would remove reference to the preservation and protection of the memorial as a sign of the Confederacy, making it possible to change or remove the memorial in the future. The bill would also make it illegal to display any insignia of the Confederacy inside or outside a residence, store, place of business, public building or school.

Read HB175 here.

Stone Mountain is one of the world's largest granite outcroppings, but its carving of three Confederate leaders on its facing has made the park a target of racial protests for years. The KKK held rallies and cross burnings atop the mountain from the 1940s through the 1960s, but recently, the park's Confederate-themed carving has drawn the ire of anti-white nationalist groups. In 2016, several people were arrested when civil rights and social justice advocates clashed with white supremacists.

During the recent Super Bowl weekend in Atlanta, a white nationalist group applied for a permit to march inside the park, prompting a counter-protest from civil rights and social justice advocates. The permit was denied, but left-leaning groups threatened to protest anyway, prompting Stone Mountain Park officials to close the attraction as more than 1 million people were in Atlanta for the game.

Read more: Threat Of Left-Wing Protests Closes Stone Mountain On Super Bowl Weekend

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RICHMOND, VA - AUGUST 19: Aria Berry (R), 4, and her father James Berry join about 20 members and supporters of Confederate heritage groups on August 19, 2018 in Richmond, Virginia. (Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images)