NC: Clergy call for removal of monument

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by Frank Kracher
Monday, July 6th 2020

RUTHERFORDTON, N.C. (WLOS) — There's a call to remove another Confederate monument in the mountains, this one in front of the Rutherford County Courthouse, and a group of clergy is leading the charge.

The Rev. Samuel Burleson, of Salem United Methodist Church, stood on the courthouse steps and read a letter to the Rutherford County commissioners. The letter was signed by 30 local ministers.

“There are deep wounds that rest within our community. There is a darker part of our past that is hidden beneath the glory of statues such as this one,” Burleson said ...

https://wlos.com/news/local/clergy-call-for-removal-of-confederate-monument-at-rutherford-county-courthouse

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1. Language in spending bill ordering removal of Confederate statues from Capitol

Felicia Sonmez
July 6, 2020 at 8:49 p.m. EDT

House Democrats have included language in a federal funding bill ordering the removal of Confederate statues from the U.S. Capitol, setting the stage for a battle over the issue later this year.

The move comes amid a national debate over racial injustice sparked by the killing of George Floyd, a 46-year-old black man, in Minneapolis police custody in May. As large-scale protests over police brutality and systemic racism have swept the country for weeks, some demonstrators have toppled statues and monuments to Confederate figures, arguing that their removal is long overdue.

The fiscal year 2021 legislative branch funding bill released Monday by the House Appropriations Committee includes a provision directing the Architect of the Capitol to remove statues or busts “that represent figures who participated in the Confederate Army or government, as well as the statues of individuals with unambiguous records of racial intolerance” ...

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/house-democrats-insert-language-in-federal-spending-bill-ordering-removal-of-confederate-statues-from-us-capitol/2020/07/06/da756382-bfcd-11ea-9fdd-b7ac6b051dc8_story.html

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2. Texas voters open to moving Confederate statues

By ROSS RAMSEY
Published: Jul. 6, 2020 at 5:48 PM EDT|Updated: 9 hours ago

AUSTIN (Texas Tribune) - Long-held views on the discrimination against Black people and on memorials to the Confederacy are changing in Texas .. according to polling by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas ...

In October 2017, more than half of Texas voters thought Confederate statues and monuments should remain where they are — 34% just as they are and another 22% with “historical context provided.” Public opinion has flipped, with most believing they should either be removed from public view (20%) or “moved to a museum or other site where they can be presented in historical context (32%). A slight majority of white voters (53%) would leave the monuments in place, while majorities of Black voters (82%) and Hispanic voters (54%) would move them ...

https://www.kwtx.com/2020/07/06/poll-texas-voters-open-to-moving-confederate-statues/

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3. Change Confederate military base names

The Editorial Board, USA TODAY Published 6:14 p.m. ET July 6, 2020 | Updated 6:55 p.m. ET July 6, 2020

... States and localities will need to deal with their Confederate statues and place names. And Congress will likely take up separate legislation dealing with 11 Confederate statues in the Capitol. But getting rid of Confederate military base names is a good place to start.

After all, why should a nation honor generals who took up arms against it? The United States has no Army base named after Charles Cornwallis, the British general during the Revolutionary War, or famous turncoat Benedict Arnold. Why should there be bases named after people who fought on the wrong side at battles like Gettysburg and Antietam? ...

Making the case against Confederate base names even stronger is the cause these generals were fighting for. Slavery is the worst stain on America’s history. It needs to be confronted, not rationalized or papered over. The Southern states seceded after the election of America’s greatest president, Abraham Lincoln, because they felt that he would take the country in a direction that would eventually ban human bondage.

It is time to use military base names to honor people who fought for America, not those who sought to tear the United States apart.

https://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/todaysdebate/2020/07/06/change-confederate-military-base-names-honor-american-heroes-editorials-debates/3175376001/

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4. Pentagon drafting ban on displaying Confederate flag

By Barbara Starr, CNN Pentagon Correspondent
Updated 5:20 PM ET, Mon July 6, 2020

Washington (CNN)In a move that could pit the Joint Chiefs of Staff and senior military leaders against President Donald Trump, a draft Pentagon policy document to ban the Confederate flag from being displayed at military bases has been circulating for the last week at the highest levels of the military, a defense official directly familiar with the document told CNN.

It has yet to be formally approved while military legal personnel review how to ensure a ban can properly be carried out, the official said.

A decision to move ahead with a department-wide ban could now come soon, the official said. It is not known if Defense Secretary Mark Esper will seek Trump's approval to proceed with the ban ...


https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/06/politics/pentagon-confederate-flag-ban/index.html

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5. MS: Bolivar County will remove its monument

BY KELSEY DAVIS BETZ | 13 HOURS AGO

CLEVELAND — The Bolivar County Board of Supervisors has voted to remove the Confederate monument in front of the Cleveland courthouse.

Supervisor Jacorius Liner made the motion to remove it; no supervisors voted against the motion. At their last meeting, the board authorized attorney Ellis Turnage to look into the legality of removing the monument.

Turnage informed the board of state law at their regular Monday meeting — that for a Confederate monument to be moved it must be placed in a suitable location such as a cemetery or historical Civil War site.

No decisions have yet been made by the board as to where the statue will go, when, or how much it will cost ...

https://mississippitoday.org/2020/07/06/bolivar-county-will-remove-its-confederate-monument/