According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 40% of the population of the City of Troy is listed as Black or African American alone as of the 2010 Census (https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/troycityalabama). Even if that number has not changed as of the 2020 Census (which we will not know until March of 2021), the Black citizens of the City of Troy, making up 40% of our whole population, when traveling downtown must be subjected to a memorial glorifying an era of history when a group of states fought for the ownership of Black people as slaves.

Obviously, when the memorial was erected in the Lost Cause era of the South in 1908, it was a desperate attempt to to hold on to antebellum Southern traditions and a reflection of the times in the decades immediately following the Civil War. Now, in the 21st Century, it is a symbol of hatred and oppression to a large portion of the population of our city. The time has long since passed to have this memorial removed by the City of Troy. The fact that it remains standing above downtown Troy is no longer a reflection of the times, but a reflection of an unsympathetic and unconcerned attitude towards the Black population of our city.

If we truly want to have racial equality and a brotherhood among all people in our community and around this nation, we must start with the removal of memorials or objects of glorification of a time when one race of people were enslaved by another. Let the good and evil of history be taught in schools and be seen in museums, but do not let us extol the evils of history with memorials that emphasize a time when 40% of the population of our city today would have been dehumanized.

Make your voice heard by the Troy City Council and the Mayor's office by signing this petition. Tell them that Black lives matter to us and that memorials to their oppression are not welcome in our city. Let us, the citizens of Troy, rise above our past rather than having a monument to our past rise above us.