Andrew Young bucks civil rights groups, backs King monument on Stone Mountain
Andrew Young says he supports a proposal to place a monument to Martin Luther King Jr. on Stone Mountain, and he's unconcerned that local civil rights groups have come out against the idea.
“My understanding of Dr. King’s nonviolence movement was to create a reconciliation of races and opinions,” Young said. "I think it is a wonderful symbolism to have a Freedom Bell on Stone Mountain that would honor Dr. King. It is not only a good idea. It is a necessary idea for this nation to pull together.”
Last Sunday, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association announced that it would begin plans to build a King monument atop Stone Mountain. It would most likely be a "Freedom Bell," a tower holding a replica of the Liberty Bell, based on a line in King's 1963 "I Have a Dream" speech: "Let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia."
The Sons of Confederate Veterans immediately decried the idea; perhaps more suprisingly, the local NAACP and Southern Christian Leadership Conference also joined the opposition.
See what the typically plain-spoken Young had to say about that.
About the Author
Ernie Suggs is an enterprise reporter covering race and culture for the AJC since 1997. A 1990 graduate of N.C. Central University and a 2009 Harvard University Nieman Fellow, he is also the former vice president of the National Association of Black Journalists. His obsession with Prince, Spike Lee movies, Hamilton and the New York Yankees is odd.
