Those who want the Confederate monument removed from the lawn of the King George Courthouse view it as a reminder of racism while others want it to remain as a memorial to their ancestors—and their differing opinions do not necessarily fall along color lines.
Last month, Dave Jones, who’s white and a descendant of a soldier who fought for the Confederacy during the Civil War, asked the King George Board of Supervisors to move the memorial to a graveyard “where it belongs, as opposed to allowing it to remain in the heart of our county as an insult to all black citizens.”
His request produced a chorus of responses from residents, just as similar discussions have been prompted across the nation by George Floyd’s death and the Black Lives Matter movement.
One of those who expressed an opinion at last week’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting was Corey Truxon, who is Black. He said if people get rid of everything “they’re offended by, you’re going to lose a lot in life. Not all of these monuments or statues are built on hate. We as a society can learn from them and the past struggles to measure how far we have come as a society.”
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In an email which was read to the board, Truxon said he’d never been bothered by Confederate flags, statues or memorials.
“I do get offended by Caucasians who feel they know best as to how I should feel or think,” Truxon stated. “This ‘white guilt’ is killing America faster than anything.”
He suggested putting the issue on the ballot and letting voters decide. Caroline County officials considered the same option for the Confederate monument on the courthouse lawn in Bowling Green, but decided against a referendum this week.
King George officials said they want to gather information about exactly who is memorialized on the obelisk.
Its inscription states that it was erected by the Ladies Memorial Association of King George to honor family members who fought for the Confederacy, but local historians have suggested the names of Union soldiers were added later, said Supervisor Chair Cathy Binder.
The board doesn’t want to make a decision “until we know the facts,” said Supervisor Jeff Bueche, adding he would not be part of a “knee-jerk reaction” based on someone saying he doesn’t like it or is offended.
Several residents said just that at last week’s Board of Supervisors’ meeting.
Robert Ashton spoke on behalf of the King George branch of the NAACP and said such a memorial in front of the courthouse honors those who fought to keep others enslaved.
“We recognize that slavery existed in the U.S., and it should be taught in the school system, but it is not necessary that persons from the Civil War be memorialized as great heroes who were suppressing African Americans,” he said.
Marsha Stonehill, the wife of Supervisor Jeff Stonehill, said she didn’t understand the desire to memorialize the Confederacy when “what was being fought for was the right to treat people as inhuman, the right to rape them, beat them, remove body parts and separate them from other family members.”
Susan Park said removing the monument wouldn’t “mean we’ve solved the problem of racism, but it’s a good step in the right direction.”
Residents Don Shelton, Roy Graham and Cynthia Miller said they have family members’ names on the monument and did not want it removed from its place of prominence.
Shelton said his ancestry includes European, Native American, Irish and African American blood, like many represented on the memorial. He said they “didn’t want to fight a war, but they had to,” adding the monument’s current location is “the only place I can go and honor my ancestors.”
Well-known county historian Elizabeth Lee said in an email to The Free Lance–Star last month that she was so bothered by the debate over the monument that she was on “high blood pressure mode.” She said before the discussion began, most people didn’t even know the memorial was there, much less get offended by it.
Many of those whose names are inscribed didn’t own slaves, she said.
“In fact, many of them were descendants of Native Americans and African slaves. Their families were dirt poor,” Lee said, hers included.
Another historian, Bob Baird, told board members that some of the older people in King George have learned how to respect each other’s customs and property as they lived together in “peace and harmony.” He wished there was more of an effort to educate young people about their successes and failures.