It is the height of irony that, on the very eve of national Black History Month, the Commission would seriously consider re-installing the Confederate monument on, of all places, the county courthouse grounds.
It was just several years ago, that the Commission agreed to remove this monument in recognition of its origins from the United Daughters of the Confederacy ("UDC") in 1924 and whose inscription claims to be "true to the best traditions of the South".
Traditions of the South? This monument, as well as others, sprinkled over our country in the first half of the 20th century by the UDC was, and is, intended to extoll the so-called virtues of slavery and white racial supremacy in the antebellum South, including Florida. That this was the intent of the UDC and this monument cannot be denied by any fair and truthful reading or telling of history.
Moreover, assertions that this monument is needed on the courthouse grounds to bring back some recognition of "cultural heritage" is a falsehood. It is neither virtuous nor patriotic to our county or our citizens to celebrate the abomination of slavery and the war fought to bring about its end. Re-installation of this monument on
the courthouse grounds would be a shameful act by the Commission. Please do not do so.
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