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Metro Atlanta

Calls begin for removal of Confederate monument in Lawrenceville

The Confederate monument in Decatur Square is dismantled and removed after midnight on June 19, 2020. The base of the monument, shown here loaded on a truck on Ponce de Leon Ave. following its removal, was engraved on all four sides with text glorifying the Confederacy. One side is engraved “ERECTED by the men and women and children of DeKalb County to the memory of the soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy, of whose virtues in peace and in war we are witnesses to the end that justice may be done and that the truth perish not. Graffiti painted over the text on two other sides that called Confederates “a covenant keeping race who held fast to the faith as it was given by the fathers of the Republic” and who believed that “there is sanctity in oaths and obligation in contracts” (that side shown here), apparent references to the original U.S. Constitution, which provided for states to allow slavery. The graffiti on those two sides is a background of red paint with a black stencil of the face of George Floyd in the center. This side is also painted with the words “RIP Floyd”. (PHOTO by Ariel Hart / ahart@ajc.com)
The Confederate monument in Decatur Square is dismantled and removed after midnight on June 19, 2020. The base of the monument, shown here loaded on a truck on Ponce de Leon Ave. following its removal, was engraved on all four sides with text glorifying the Confederacy. One side is engraved “ERECTED by the men and women and children of DeKalb County to the memory of the soldiers and sailors of the Confederacy, of whose virtues in peace and in war we are witnesses to the end that justice may be done and that the truth perish not. Graffiti painted over the text on two other sides that called Confederates “a covenant keeping race who held fast to the faith as it was given by the fathers of the Republic” and who believed that “there is sanctity in oaths and obligation in contracts” (that side shown here), apparent references to the original U.S. Constitution, which provided for states to allow slavery. The graffiti on those two sides is a background of red paint with a black stencil of the face of George Floyd in the center. This side is also painted with the words “RIP Floyd”. (PHOTO by Ariel Hart / ahart@ajc.com)
By Arielle Kass
June 19, 2020

Calls have begun to remove a Confederate memorial in downtown Lawrenceville.

Kirkland Carden, a Democratic candidate for the Gwinnett County Board of Commissioners, and Nabilah Islam, who ran for Congress as a Democrat in the 7th District, have started a petition asking the Board of Commissioners to remove the memorial.

The move follows the removal of a similar monument in the city of Decatur Thursday.

About the Author

Arielle Kass covers Gwinnett County for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. She started at the paper in 2010, and has covered business and local government beats around metro Atlanta. Arielle is a graduate of Emory University.

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