101 RESOLUTION NO. _____ _
2
3 A Resolution calling on the Florida Delegation of the U.S. Congress to
4 support Congressional efforts to replace the statues of Confederate General
5 Edmund Kirby Smith and eight other Confederate leaders, currently
6 representing several states in Statuary Hall in Washington, D.C.
7
8 WHEREAS, in 1864, in accordance with legislation sponsored by Representative Justin
9 Morril, Congress invited each state to contribute two statues of prominent citizens for permanent
10 display in a room in the U.S. Capitol, which was renamed National Statuary Hall; and
11
12 WHEREAS, in August 2017, U.S. Senator Cory Booker and House Minority Leader
13 Nancy Pelosi announced that they supported the idea of the removal of Confederate statues from
14 the National Statuary Hall and that they would be introducing legislation to remove Confederate
15 statues in the National Statuary Hall; and
16
17 WHEREAS, as of2017, nine Confederate statues are part of National Statuary Hall.
18 Two are Confederate politicians, including Jefferson Davis (MS) and Alexander Stephens (GA).
19 Five are Confederate generals, including Robert E. Lee (VA), Joseph Wheeler (AL), James Z.
20 George (MS), Wade Hampton III (SC), and Edmund Kirby Smith (FL). Two are Confederate
21 soldiers, Zebulon Baird Vance (NC) and John E. Kenna (WV); and
22
23 WHEREAS, in 1922, the state of Florida gave a statue of Confederate General Edmund
24 Kirby to the National Statuary Hall Collection; and
25
26 WHEREAS, in 2000, an act of Congress (2 U.S.C. § 2132) that permits states to provide
27 statue replacements and repossess the earlier one was passed; and
28
29 WHEREAS, since the act was passed, seven states (Alabama, Arizona, California, Iowa,
30 Kansas, Michigan, and Ohio) have replaced statues; and
31
32 WHEREAS, on September 15,2015, the South Miami City Commission adopted
33 Resolution 147-15-14486, sponsored by Commissioner Gabriel Edmond, calling on the Florida
34 Legislature to replace the statue of Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith; and
35
36 WHEREAS, the Florida Legislature approved plans to replace Edmund Kirby Smith in
37 2016 with a person yet to be determined; and
38
39 WHEREAS, as of2017, Edmund Kirby Smith remains in Statuary Hall because the
40 Florida Legislature has been unable to resolve their differences on a replacement; and
41
42 WHEREAS, a Southern Poverty Law Center Study identified 1,503 publicly sponsored
43 monuments honoring the Confederate States of America in the South and across the nation; and
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1 WHEREAS, most ofthese monuments were not erected right after the Civil War. In fact,
2 all the way to 1890 there were very few statues and monuments dedicated to Confederate
3 leaders; and
4
5 WHEREAS, there were two major periods in which the dedication of confederate
6 monuments and other symbols spiked --the first two decades of the 20th century and during the
7 civil rights movement; and
8
9 WHEREAS, most Confederate monuments were built in a period in which states were
10 enacting Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise the new freed African Americans and re-segregate
11 society; and
12
13 WHEREAS, many Confederate monuments were built in the 1950s .and 1960s, as the
14 civil rights movement led to a backlash among segregationists; and
15
16 WHEREAS, during the time these Confederate monuments were constructed, our culture
17 was glorifying confederate leaders who served to promote and defend the cause of an elite's right
18 to own people as property; and
19
20 WHEREAS, these monuments were erected at a time when, as in many other areas of
21 the south, there existed a period where African Americans were not given a representative voice
22 as to what kind of monument they would like to have to represent a city, state, or our nation; and
23
24 WHEREAS, in a modern nation of many cultures, it is important that this nation
25 represent all, by not glorifying divisive figures of its past; and
26
27 WHEREAS, removal of Confederate statues from public spaces will encourage
28 Americans to confront the historical significance of racial slavery and the enduring legacy of Jim
29 Crow segregation; and
30
31 WHEREAS, since 2015, at least 60 symbols of the Confederacy have been removed or
32 renamed across the United States; and
33
34 WHEREAS, in Austin, Texas, statues of two confederate generals, Robert E. Lee and
35 Albert Sidney Johnston, were taken down on August 21, 2017; and
36
37 WHEREAS, in Dur}:lam, North Carolina, Duke University removed a Robert E. Lee
38 statue from Duke chapel on August 19,2017; and
39
40 WHEREAS, in New Orleans, Louisiana, the city council ordered removed four
41 confederate statues in April, 2017; and
42
43 WHEREAS, in 2017, in a Gainesville, Florida, a confederate monument known as "Old
44 Joe" that stood in front of Alachua County Administration Building was taken down after 113
45 years; and
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1 WHEREAS, in Tampa, Florida, the Hillsborough County .commission agreed to remove
2 a Confederate monument known as Memoria if private funds could be raised for its removal. On
3 August 17, 2017 three Tampa Sports teams have agreed to pay for the removal; and
4
5 WHEREAS, in Orlando, Florida, city officials removed a Confederate statue known as
6 Johnny Reb from Lake Eola Park in June, 2017; and
7
8 WHEREAS, in St. Petersburg, Florida, city officials, on August 15,2017, removed a
9 Confederate plaque and marker concerning the Stonewall Jackson Highway; and
10
11 WHEREAS, in 2017, in Daytona Beach, Florida, city officials removed three
12 confederate plaques commemorating Confederate soldiers from Riverfront Park in downtown
13 Daytona Beach; and
14
15 WHEREAS, in 2017, in Jacksonville, Florida, city council officials have called for all
16 Confederate monuments to be moved from city property to a museum; and
17
18 WHEREAS, in Pensacola, Florida, city officials, in August, 2017, called to remove
19 Confederate statues in Lee Square from downtown Pensacola; and
20
21 WHEREAS, in Richmond, Virginia, a former capital of the confederacy, city officials
22 directed a city Commission to consider removing confederate statues; and
23
24 WHEREAS, in Stone Mountain, Georgia, State Representative Stacey Abrams, a
25 Democratic candidate for Governor, called for the removals ofthree Confederate Generals in
26 stone carving on Stone Mountain.
27
28 NOW THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE MAYOR AND CITY
29 COMMISSIONERS OF THE CITY OF SOUTH MIAMI, FLORIDA:
30
31 Section 1. The u.S. Congress should replace all Confederate statues in the National
32 Statuary Hall Collection, including Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith representing the
33 state of Florida.
34
35 Section 2. The City Clerk is hereby directed to transmit this resolution to u.S. Senator
36 Bill Nelson, U.S. Senator Marco Rubio, all 27 members of the Florida Delegation of U.S. House
37 of Representatives, the Mayor and County Commissioners of Miami-Dade County and all
38 elected municipal officials in Miami-Dade County.
39
40 Section 3. Severability. If any section clause, sentence, or phrase of this resolution is for
41 any reason held invalid or unconstitutional by a court of competent jurisdiction, the holding shall
42 not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this resolution.
43
44 Section 4. Effective Date. This resolution shall become effective immediately upon
45 adoption.
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1 PASSED AND ADOPTED this __ day of ,2017.
2
3 ATTEST: APPROVED:
4
5
6 CITY CLERK MAYOR
7
8 READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM, COMMISSION VOTE:
9 LANGUAGE, LEGALITY AND Mayor Stoddard:
10 EXECUTION THEREOF Vice Mayor Welsh:
11 Commissioner Harris:
12 Commissioner Edmond:
13 CITY ATTORNEY Commissioner Liebman:
14
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