SPLC counted 48 confederate monuments removed in 2022
A carving honoring Confederate Gens. Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee and the president of the Confederacy, Jefferson Davis, looms above Stone Mountain Park just outside of Atlanta.
Emil Moffatt / WABE
The Southern Poverty Law Center has released its Whose Heritage? data and map, which tracks public symbols of the Confederacy across the United States.
The report found that 48 Confederate symbols were removed, renamed, or relocated from public spaces in 2022.
However, seven Southern states, including Georgia, have enacted preservation laws to block the removal of Confederate memorials, and Florida is working to enact a similar law.
The SPLC believes that these laws go against democracy and that removing Confederate iconography is a critical part of telling the hard history of slavery and racism in the United States.
The report also shows that of the more than 2,600 Confederate symbols still publicly present across the U.S., 47 symbols are currently pending removal in eleven states.
SPLC Alabama state director Tafeni English-Relf joined WABE’s “All Things Considered” to help put the data into context.
“I think we have to acknowledge the voice of the community and those in the community that are taking a stand against these monuments being erected in public spaces,” said English-Relf.
She said the SPLC will continue to support and encourage local activists who are challenging this age-old propaganda campaign to achieve racial justice by creating public spaces free of malice.
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