The bare granite surface where an MLK monument is intended on the summit of Stone Mountain. bsanderlin@ajc.com
Local civil rights groups have joined Confederate enthusiasts in opposition to the placement of a monument to Martin Luther King Jr. on Stone Mountain.
Neither side wants its legacy associated with the other.
A note arrived this morning with news that SCLC and the Atlanta and DeKalb chapters of the NAACP have a 3 p.m. Wednesday sit-down with Gov. Nathan Deal. From the press release:
The two leading and historic civil rights groups are involved in a joint effort to see the Confederate celebrations and symbols removed from Stone Mountain. They are also calling for the termination of all public monies used to sponsor hateful reminders of a cruel and bloody time in United States history.
"Why are governments spending tax dollars to preserve monuments of hate?" asked [SCLC president Charles] Steele. "And more so, why put any reference of Dr. King, one of Georgia's most favorite sons, anywhere near these three traitors?"
On Monday, state Sen. Vincent Fort, D-Atlanta, said much the same thing in an interview with NPR:
"It's as if the evil that those slave-owning Confederates perpetrated is somehow ameliorated by the presence of a monument for Dr. King."
On Monday, the Georgia chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans put out a statement that included this:
"The erection of monuments to anyone other than Confederate heroes in Stone Mountain Park is in contradistinction to the purpose for which the park exists and would make it a memorial to something different. The park was never intended to be a memorial to multiple causes but solely to the Confederacy.
"Therefore, monuments to either … King or soldiers of any color who fought against the Confederacy would be a violation of the purpose for which the park was created and exists."
It is not a universal opinion. Governor Deal has endorsed the concept of an MLK monument atop Stone Mountain. The Rev. Joseph Lowery, who once headed up the SCLC, referred to the state plan as "amazing."
Jen Talaber, spokeswoman for the governor, confirmed the Wednesday meeting with the civil rights groups. After hearing his guests out, she said, Deal will also want to speak with them about his “Opportunity School District” plan – a 2016 constitutional referendum that would give the state the authority to take over failing public schools within local systems.
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