A carving that honors the Confederacy at Stone Mountain is ‘too big to ignore’

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

A walk along the trails at Stone Mountain Park near Atlanta can be peaceful. The sweeping views from the top of the mountain can be breathtaking, and a visit to a new dinosaur exhibit there can be educational.

But looming over all of this natural beauty is a nearly 100-foot-tall carving of Confederate Gens. Stonewall Jackson and Robert E. Lee and Confederate President Jefferson Davis, all on horseback with their hats pressed against their hearts.

The carving at Stone Mountain is one of the park’s defining features, but it has also become the focus for protests and calls to revisit the region’s racist past as communities across the country grapple with questions about who we should memorialize, whose history we should honor.