Why do we want to remove the Confederate Monument from Meridian, Mississippi?

1. The monument causes hurt and harm to the Black residents of Meridian, Mississippi. It is a symbol that celebrates the Civil War, which was fought to keep Black people enslaved, as explicitly stated in Mississippi's documents of secession. The monument commemorates the Civil War's meaning as a Lost Cause bravely fought by white southerners, when in reality the Confederacy's defeat meant freedom for millions of Black Americans. The monument reminds us of slavery and causes one to feel that it is a symbol that we are still subject to the white supremacists, especially with what is going on in the news today, connected to police brutality.

2. Other southern cities like Birmingham, Mobile, Richmond, Fredericksburg, New Orleans, and more have relocated public memorials to the Confederacy because they recognize that these memorials cause harm. The Marine Corps recently banned displays of the Confederate flag for the same reason. Along those same lines, about two years ago, Meridian's City Council voted to remove the flag, which featured a Confederate emblem, from City Hall. It is time to remove the Confederate Monument, as well.

3. The monument was unveiled on April 25, 1912, connecting with the majority from that time. It would be wrong to privilege the 1912 residents over all the generations, in which many laws also reflect their ideas and thinking from that time, which were not made overall including us as a people.