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Protesters plan march on Confederate memorial in Decatur

This obelisk was built in 1908, long before there was a Decatur Square built up around it.

Credit: KEITH HADLEY

Credit: KEITH HADLEY

This obelisk was built in 1908, long before there was a Decatur Square built up around it.
By Joshua Sharpe
Sept 5, 2017

A group called "Hate Free Decatur" is organizing a Sunday night march on the Confederate monument downtown in the DeKalb County seat.

The event is at 6 p.m., starting at 105 Electric Ave., ending at the historic courthouse on the square, where the monument rose in 1908. Organizers deride the monument, which is owned by DeKalb County, as an outdated Jim Crow-era symbol of white supremacy.

Though DeKalb owns the monument, state law protects Confederate monuments across the state.

Hate Free Decatur also is behind a petition to lobby officials and lawmakers to remove the monument. It has more than 2,400 signatures. A counter petition, arguing that such monuments are an important part of history, has 2,000.

Co-sponsors of the march include Create Community 4 Decatur: Black Lives Matter, Beacon Hill NAACP, DeKalb County NAACP, Atlanta NAACP, Oakhurst Presbyterian and Georgia Alliance for Social Justice, according to Hate Free Decatur.

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