On Confederate monuments, Jacksonville is a city divided

[thelakelander]

The only reason I would want the Hemming monument to stay is because it is one of the few things that survived the 1901 fire.

This is only true in the Northbank roughly between the river, Clay Street and Hogans Creek. Many buildings in Jax outside of that boundary (like LaVilla, Springfield and the Eastside) still stand that pre-date the Great Fire of 1901. They happen to be in historically African-American areas of the urban core, so we tend to overlook them because the history and important contributions of these areas are largely forgotten and unknown to the general masses after a century of telling a Jax history from a single perspective of those in charge during Jim Crow. Hemming also isn't the oldest. The Union Monument in Evergreen (another area that didn't burn in the fire) predates it by seven years.

[RattlerGator]

Jacksonville was a majority black city when the Hemming monument was erected. It did not reflect Jacksonville at the time. About the only thing it reflects is a change from a more inclusive reconstruction era political system into an era were segregationist and revisionist storytelling of the city's history became more dominant. As a minority and now having a better understanding of Jax's true past, I believe a solution where it stays but some sort of consolation trophy/monument is added is essentially a slap in the face of true Jacksonville.

Not your best take, Ennis. The mere fact that population may have had more blacks does not mean the monument when erected did not, and does not still, reflect Jacksonville. In fact, it most certainly does.

This absurd agenda-driven nonsense simplistically pushed around the country is not supported by most of the country. And the actual fact of the matter is that most black people do not give a damn about those statues. Not a damn! The only way those polling numbers approach support is by crafting the wording in a fashion designed to increase the levels of support for removal. That UNF polling outfit -- is that the same one that crazily said Donald Trump had the support of but 1% of black Floridians ? ? ? And of course the polling numbers in this city will differ from the national norm -- we probably have triple the black population percentage of the national average.

Leave the damn monuments alone; quit acting like the damn Taliban and essentially tearing down our history.

Most disappointing to me, though, is this take that adding a monument or monuments in Hemming Park is somehow a slap in the face of this city. No, it's called adding representative history -- which is where the earlier monument failed. It reflected Jacksonville, and certainly was representative of the power structure of the city (population levels be damned) but it was not as representative as it could have and should have been.

Change the name of Confederate Park back to its original name? I support that 100 percent. But leave the monuments alone.

[thelakelander]

Lol, cut out the 21st century cramp and Trump mumble jumble. Tell me from a historical reflective how it reflects "Jacksonville" outside of being a symbol of pride for a minority portion of the population when it was erected in a park that the majority of city couldn't freely enjoy? Jax is and was more progressive and diverse than you give it credit for. It in and of itself is representative of a Taliban like regime. A pretty effective one considering the massive lack of knowledge concerning Jax's actual history. Move it to a cemetery like Old City or Evergreen and move on. Oh and keep the consolation prizes and monuments. Sticking a smaller statue or monument of something else in a secondary spot in the park isn't helping anything.

[lastdaysoffla]

Move it to a cemetery like Old City or Evergreen and move on. Oh and keep the consolation prizes and monuments. Sticking a smaller statue or monument of something else in a secondary spot in the park isn't helping anything.

Only people are coming for Confederate markers in cemeteries as well.

http://host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/govt-and-politics/city-to-decide-fate-of-two-confederate-monuments-in-madison/article_9cd1b791-9a2a-5e78-bfac-4146d1e1dfea.html

[thelakelander]

Are they going for the Union markers in our cemeteries too? With that said, our history isn't the same as Wisconsin's. There's no one size fits all solution.

[lastdaysoffla]

Let's put the Hemming monument in Old City, bring the Union monument from Evergreen to Union(Hemming) Plaza and leave the women of the southland where it is, cause it's kinda nice.


Oh and no they aren't moving Union monuments in cemeteries, but if you or I go and move a grave marker, that would be defacing a grave(probably a criminal offense) why can groups driven by an agenda on either side of the issue be able to force that same action?

I mean they are in cemeteries already, who is offended? The ghosts? /s