Res No 185-17-14986RESOLUTION NO. 185-17-14986
A Resolution calling on the Florida Legislature and Florida Governor to
remove a Confederate monument at the State Capitol to a more appropriate
location.
WHEREAS, in 1882, a Confederate monument was dedicated at the Florida State
Capitol; and
WHEREAS, on August 12,2017, violent protests of white supremacists and neo-Nazi
groups, who decried the decision of the city of Charlottesville, V A to remove a Confederate
monument, led to the death of three people; and
WHEREAS, Andrew Gillum, Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic candidate for
Governor in 2018, called on Florida Governor Rick Scott to remove the Confederate monument
from the State Capitol grounds; and
WHEREAS, State Representative Shevrin Jones announced his intention to file
legislation to remove Confederate monuments from all public places in Florida; 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,
up until 1890 there were very few statues and monuments dedicated to Confederate leaders; and
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 diverse and modem state of many cultures, it is important that this state
represent all, by not glorifying divisive figures of its past; and
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Res. No. 185-17-14986
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 oftwo 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 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
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, from Riverfront
Park in downtown Daytona Beach, three confederate plaques commemorating Confederate
soldiers; 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, 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.
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Res. No. 185-17-14986
WHEREAS, in Stone Mountain, Georgia, State Representative Stacey Abrams, a
Democratic candidate for Governor, called for the removals ofthree Confederate Generals in
stone carving on Stone Mountain on Monument Avenue.
NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA:
Section 1. The Florida Legislature and Florida Governor are hereby called upon to
remove a Confederate monument at the State Capitol to a more appropriate location.
Section 2. The City Clerk is hereby directed to transmit this resolution to Governor Rick
Scott, President of the Florida Senate, Speaker of the Florida 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 ofthis 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.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this5th day of September ,2017.
READ AND
LANG~--.,.
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ORM,
Page 3 of3
COMMISSION VOTE:
Mayor Stoddard:
Vice Mayor Welsh:
Commissioner Harris:
Commissioner Edmond:
5-0
Yea
Yea
Yea
Yea
Commissioner Liebman: Yea