We current and former citizens of Dodge County, Georgia, demand the removal of the Confederate monument and associated flag installed adjacent to the historic Dodge County Courthouse.

The monument and flag were erected not during the Civil War, but in 1910. They were not built to preserve the history of Confederate soldiers; they were built to weaponize images of violence against Black lives and bodies during the height of the Jim Crow era. The Jim Crow era followed the Civil War and was utilized by the KKK and other white supremacists terrorist groups to instigate fear, violence, and injustice against Black Americans. 

The monument and Confederate flag stand as a reminder that Black lives have never mattered enough to upset the white moderate that clings desperately to the memory of the Confederate States. 

The monument's inscription reads thus: "Erected by the Fannie Gordon Chapter, United States Daughters of the Confederacy, April 1910. 'No nation rose so pure and white; none ever fell so spotless.'" 

Liberty Road, Inc. and its allies demand the removal of this monument on the following grounds: 

Whereas:

1. The Jim Crow monument does not enrich the public's historical memory; rather, it stands as a symbol of violence, prejudice, and hate. 
2. The chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy that erected the monument in 1910 has long been disbanded; therefore, no living person has a claim to the monument. 
3. The monument and Confederate flag stand on public land, adjacent to the historic Dodge County Courthouse. Citizens of all races and ethnicities must do business at the courthouse, and it is unjust that a Black man visiting the Courthouse do so with a Jim Crow monument staring down at him. 
4. The monument venerates the Jim Crow era, a time in which Black people were regularly falsely accused of crimes, hunted down, and lynched. At least ten recorded lynchings occurred in Dodge County, Georgia during and after the Jim Crow era.
5. The Commissioners of Dodge County have an obligation to serve the entirety of this county. For far too long they have failed to remove this symbol of hatred and fear which preserves ideas that do not serve the Black citizenry of this county.

We, the people of Dodge County, Georgia, demand the removal of the Confederate monument and flag.

We propose removing the monument and flag to a privately-owned institution such as a museum. Our publicist is prepared to aid that process in any way possible.

In addition, we propose installing a monument to the victims of lynchings in Dodge County, Georgia's history on the courthouse grounds. The University of Georgia has on record at least 10 victims of lynching in the county. 

Rather than venerate the Jim Crow era, we the people demand justice and reparations for those 10 lost lives. Liberty Road, Inc. is prepared to work with the Equal justice Initiative's Community Remembrance Project in order to bring home the monument to those victims and install it at our courthouse square.

For further reading, please visit: 

100 Years of Lynchings
The Equal Justice Initiative's Community Remembrance Project
The University of Georgia's record of Dodge County lynchings 
The Constitutional Rights Foundation's A Brief History of Jim Crow