Petition Seeks To Remove Confederate Memorial In Decatur

DECATUR, GA -- A petition to remove a Civil War monument near the DeKalb County Courthouse in downtown Decatur is rapidly gaining support as a backlash against Confederate symbols, statues and imagery spreads throughout much of the nation. The monument, called the Lost Cause Confederate Memorial, honors the South's war effort against the Union.

But the petition, started by local resident Eric Erzinger, has run into a bureaucratic morass, as local politicians have come forward to say there's no legal way for them to remove the landmark, unless state law is changed. (SIGN UP: Get Patch's Daily Newsletter and Real Time News Alerts. Or, if you have an iPhone, download the free Patch app.)

"We have also heard from several city, county, and state leaders," Erzinger says on the petition, which was updated Wednesday. "From Decatur officials, we have heard DeKalb County owns and maintains the monument, and thus the City cannot remove it. From DeKalb County officials, we have heard that state law OCGA 50-3-1(b)(2) prohibits the removal of such monuments, and thus the County cannot remove it. From State Representative Howard Mosby and State Senator Elena Parent, we have heard that there is little prospect for amending or repealing this law in the state legislature, and thus there is no foreseeable way for removing the monument."

Calling the monument a symbol of 'white nationalism," Eringer says that negative responses from local officials will not deter him. "These responses are not acceptable. The monument can and must be removed."

"There is no place for hate in Decatur," he said. "After the horrendous display of racism, bigotry, and white supremacy in Charlottesville, we, the citizens of Decatur and DeKalb County, want to take a stand against white nationalism by removing one of its symbols, the Lost Cause Confederate Memorial found in our downtown square.

The call to remove the statue comes as several municipalities in metro Atlanta grapple with landmarks tied to its Confederate past. In Kennesaw, Reid Jones, a local resident, has started an online petition to take down a prominent flag from an intersection there.

Gwinnett Judge Suspended Over Controversial Facebook Posts

In Gwinnett County, a well-known judge was suspended for controversial Facebook posts he wrote about the movement to remove Confederate statues across the land.

Magistrate Judge Jim Hinkle, the former mayor of Grayson, called people protesting Civil War monuments "snowflakes" and "nut cases," and said those taking part in wanting to topple the monuments are comparable to ISIS.

Petition Seeks Removal Of Confederate Flag In Kennesaw

Since the tragedy in Charlottsville, Va., residents in Decatur have been congregating in the Square, holding a vigil over the weekend and singing civil rights anthems to show solidarity. The Confederate monument nearby won't deter them, an activist said.

"I don't care if there's some monument," Meymoona Freeman said to a crowd at the Square earlier this week. "We made this square different," she said, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Related: The Many Symbols Of The Modern White Power Movement

Image via Craig Johnson / Patch