More than 160 Confederate symbols were removed from public spaces or renamed last year after George Floyd’s death, more than in the previous four years combined, a watchdog group said on Tuesday.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, which campaigned for the removal of Confederate statues and monuments, released the findings as part of a report on the status of the symbols.
The Montgomery, Alabama-based non-profit organization began tracking Confederate symbols after a white supremacist killed nine black worshipers at a historic African American church in Charleston, SC, in 2015.
In the group “Whose Heritage?” In the report, Law Center said last year was transformative, but that hundreds of Confederate symbols remained.
“These dehumanizing symbols of pain and oppression continue to serve as a backdrop for important US government buildings, corridors of justice, public parks and military properties, including 10 bases with names of Confederate leaders in the south,” Lecia Brooks, head of center office said in a statement.
All but one of the 168 symbols that were eliminated in 2020 were removed or renamed after Mr. Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody in May, a time that catalyzed widespread protests against systemic racism and police brutality. It also renewed an assessment of the Confederation’s symbols and their meaning.
Virginia led the number of symbols removed last year with 71, followed by North Carolina with 24 and then Alabama and Texas with 12 each, the report said.
Larry McCluney Jr., the commander-in-chief of the Children of Confederate Veterans, criticized the move to topple statues and memorials.
“So are you going to say that a war was fought and there was only one side?” Mr. McCluney said in an interview on Tuesday night. “We are trying to clean or sanitize American history.”
Mr. McCluney said it is unreasonable to judge Confederate leaders by today’s social standards. He also said that many soldiers who fought for the South in the Civil War were buried in unidentified graves and deserved to be honored.
“Is it fair 200 years from now to judge us?” he said. “They were men of their time.”
The Law Center said 31 public schools are expected to change their names this year to break ties with their Confederate heritage.
Last year, a 131-year-old statue in honor of Confederate soldiers was removed in Alexandria, Virginia, on June 2. Protesters in Richmond, Virginia, dropped a statue of Jefferson Davis on June 10 and vandalized other Confederate memorials. On June 13, a statue of Davis was removed from the Kentucky Capitol Rotunda.
A statue depicting a Confederate soldier holding a rifle in his hands was removed from Charlottesville, Virginia, in September.
Several other Confederate monuments and memorials in various states were covered in graffiti during the protests, which extended to other people and institutions seen as having a racist past.
In one case, a Confederate statue fell not for protesters or politicians, but for Mother Earth: Hurricane Laura caused a 105-year-old statue in Lake Charles, Louisiana, to fall in August.
Some institutions that have long supported the images have changed their tone.
In late June, Mississippi removed the Confederacy symbol from its state flag. And this month, North Carolina said it had stopped using a special plaque bearing the Confederate battle flag.
NASCAR banned the flag from its events and properties in June. His announcement prompted President Trump to defend the flag, starting what would become consistent resistance to efforts to remove Confederate symbols.
His stance put him in conflict with his military. On June 6, the US Marine Corps banned the display of the flag at Navy facilities. On July 17, the Pentagon banned exhibitions at military facilities around the world, avoiding Trump’s opposition and avoiding similar actions by the Army.
Military leaders indicated that they were open to renaming 10 Army bases with the name of Confederate leaders, but Trump rejected the efforts.
Trump also vetoed an annual military policy bill that included a bipartisan provision to remove the names of Confederate leaders from the grassroots, but the House and Senate overturned the veto.
Spokeswoman Nancy Pelosi called for the removal of 11 statues of Confederate figures from the United States Capitol, not for the first time, but managed to remove only four portraits.
While the Law Center said that progress has been made in removing Confederate relics, the group expressed concern about the symbols that were displayed during the Jan. 6 siege of the U.S. Capitol.
A man, who was later arrested, carried the Confederate battle flag inside the building.
“As witnessed on January 6, when a rebel shamelessly carried a Confederate flag through the corridors of the US Capitol, Confederate symbols are a form of systemic racism used to intimidate, instill fear and remind blacks that they have no place in American society. , ”Said Ms. Brooks.