Res No 184-17-14985RESOLUTION NO. 184-17-14985
A Resolution calling on the Florida Delegation of the U.S. Congress to support
Congressional efforts to replace the statues of Confederate General Edmund Kirby
Smith and eight other Confederate leaders, currently representing several states in
Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.
WHEREAS, in 1864, in accordance with legislation sponsored by Representative Justin
Morril, Congress invited each state to contribute two statues of prominent citizens for permanent
display in a room in the U.S. Capitol, which was renamed National Statuary Hall; and
WHEREAS, in August 2017, U.S. Senator Cory Booker and House Minority Leader Nancy
Pelosi announced that they supported the idea of the removal of Confederate statues from the National
Statuary Hall and that they would be introducing legislation to remove Confederate statues in the
National Statuary Hall; and
. WHEREAS, as of2017, nine Confederate statues are part of National Statuary Hall. Two are
Confederate politicians, including Jefferson Davis (MS) and Alexander Stephens (GA). Five are
Confederate generals, including Robert E. Lee (V A), Joseph Wheeler (AL), James Z. George (MS),
Wade Hampton III (SC), and Edmund Kirby Smith (FL). Two are Confederate soldiers, Zebulon Baird
Vance (NC) and John E. Kenna (WV); and
WHEREAS, in 1922, the state of Florida gave a statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby
to the National Statuary Hall Collection; and
WHEREAS, in 2000, an act of Congress (2 U.S.C. § 2132) that permits states to provide statue
replacements and repossess the earlier one was passed; and
WHEREAS, since the act was passed, seven states (Alabama, Arizona, California, Iowa,
Kansas, Michigan, and Ohio) have replaced statues; and
WHEREAS, on September 15,2015, the South Miami City Commission adopted Resolution
147-15-14486, sponsored by Commissioner Gabriel Edmond, calling on the Florida Legislature to
replace the statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith; and
WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature approved plans to replace Edmund Kirby Smith in 2016
with a person yet to be determined; and
WHEREAS, as of 20 17, Edmund Kirby Smith remains in Statuary Hall because the Florida
Legislature has been unable to resolve their differences on a replacement; and
WHEREAS, a Southern Poverty Law Center Study identified 1,503 publicly sponsored
monuments honoring the Confederate States of America in the South and across the nation; and
WHEREAS, most of these monuments were not erected right after the Civil War. In fact, all
the way to 1890 there were very few statues and monuments dedicated to Confederate leaders; and
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Res. No. 184-17-14985
WHEREAS, there were two major periods in which the dedication of confederate monuments
and other symbols spiked --the fIrst two decades of the 20th century and during the civil rights
movement; and
WHEREAS, most Confederate monuments were built in a period in which states were
enacting Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise the new freed African Americans and re-segregate society;
and
WHEREAS, many Confederate monuments were built in the 1950s and 1960s, as the civil
rights movement led to a backlash among segregationists; and
WHEREAS, during the time these Confederate monuments were constructed, our culture was
glorifying confederate leaders who served to promote and defend the cause of an elite's right to own
people as property; and
WHEREAS, these monuments were erected at a time when, as in many other areas of the
south, there existed a period where African Americans were not given a representative voice as to what
kind of monument they would like to have to represent a city, state, or our nation; and
WHEREAS, in a modem nation of many cultures, it is important that this nation represent all,
by not glorifying divisive fIgures of its past; and
WHEREAS, removal of Confederate statues from public spaces will encourage Americans to
confront the historical significance of racial slavery and the enduring legacy of Jim Crow segregation;
and
WHEREAS, since 2015, at least 60 symbols of the Confederacy have been removed or
renamed across the United States; and
WHEREAS, in Austin, Texas, statues of two confederate generals, Robert E. Lee and Albert
Sidney Johnston, were taken down on August 21,2017; and
WHEREAS, in Durham, North Carolina, Duke University removed a Robert E. Lee statue
from Duke chapel on August 19, 2017; and
WHEREAS, in New Orleans, Louisiana, the city council ordered removed four confederate
statues in April, 2017; and
WHEREAS, in 2017, in a Gainesville, Florida, a confederate monument known as "Old Joe"
that stood in front of Alachua County Administration Building was taken down after 113 years; and
WHEREAS, in Tampa, Florida, the Hillsborough County Commission agreed to remove a
Confederate monument known as Memoria if private funds could be raised for its removal. On August
17, 2017 three Tampa Sports teams have agreed to pay for the removal; and
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Res. No. 184-17-14985
WHEREAS, in Orlando, Florida, city officials removed a Confederate statue known as Johnny
Reb from Lake Eola Park in June, 2017; and
WHEREAS, in St. Petersburg, Florida, city officials, on August 15, 2017, removed a
Confederate plaque and marker concerning the Stonewall Jackson Highway; and
WHEREAS, in 2017, in Daytona Beach, Florida, city officials removed three confederate
plaques commemorating Confederate soldiers from Riverfront Park in downtown Daytona Beach; and
WHEREAS, in 2017, in Jacksonville, Florida, city council officials have called for all
Confederate monuments to be moved from city property to a museum; and
WHEREAS, in Pensacola, Florida, city officials, in August, 2017, called to remove
Confederate statues in Lee Square from downtown Pensacola; and
WHEREAS, in Richmond, Virginia, a former capital of the confederacy, city officials directed
a city Commission to consider removing confederate statues; and
WHEREAS, in Stone Mountain, Georgia, State Representative Stacey Abrams, a Democratic
candidate for Governor, called for the removals of three Confederate Generals in stone carving on
Stone Mountain; and
WHEREAS, the majority of confederate statues were erected during the 1920's, which was a
time of resurgence of the KKK, who at the time opposed immigrants who were not from North West
Europe or who were Catholic.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA:
Section 1. The U.S. Congress should replace all Confederate statues in the National Statuary
Hall Collection, including Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith representing the state of Florida.
Section 2. The City Clerk is hereby directed to transmit this resolution to U.S. Senator Bill
Nelson, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, all 27 members of the Florida Delegation of U.S. House of
Representatives, the Mayor and County Commissioners of Miami-Dade County and all elected
municipal officials in Miami-Dade County.
Section 3. Severability. If any section clause, sentence, or phrase of this resolution is for any
reason held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the holding shall not affect
the validity of the remaining portions of this resolution.
Section 4. Effective Date. This resolution shall become effective immediately upon adoption.
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Res. No. 184-17-14985
PASSED AJ'JD ADOPTED this 5 th day of September , 2017.
ATTEST:
COMMISSION VOTE: 5-0
Mayor Stoddard: Yea
Vice Mayor Welsh: Yea
Commissioner Harris: Yea
Commissioner Edmond: Yea
Commissioner Liebman: Yea
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