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1 RESOLUTION NO. _____ _
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3 A Resolution calling on the Florida Legislature and Florida Governor to
4 remove a Confederate monument at the State Capitol to a more appropriate
5 location.
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7 WHEREAS, in 1882, a Confederate monument was dedicated at the Florida State
8 Capitol; and
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10 WHEREAS, on August 12,2017, violent protests of white supremacists and neo-Nazi
11 groups, who' decried the decision of the city of Charlottesville, VA to remove a Confederate
12 monument, led to the death of three people; and
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14 WHEREAS, Andrew Gillum, Tallahassee Mayor and Democratic candidate for
15 Governor in 2018, called on Florida Governor Rick Scott to remove the Confederate monument
16 from the State Capitol grounds; and
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18 WHEREAS, State Representative Shevrin Jones announced his intention to file
19 legislation to remove Confederate monuments from all public places in Florida; and
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21 WHEREAS, a Southern Poverty Law Center Study identified 1,503 publicly sponsored
22 monuments honoring the Confederate States of America in the South and across the nation; and
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24 WHEREAS, most ofthese monuments were not erected right after the Civil War. In fact,
25 up until 1890 there were very few statues and monuments dedicated to Confederate leaders; and
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27 WHEREAS, there were two major periods in which the dedication of confederate
28 monuments and other symbols spiked --the first two decades of the 20th century and during the
29 civil rights movement; and
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31 WHEREAS, most Confederate monuments were built in a period in which states were
32 enacting Jim Crow laws to disenfranchise the new freed African Americans and re-segregate
33 society; and
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35 WHEREAS, many Confederate monuments were built in the 1950s and 1960s, as the
36 civil rights movement led to a backlash among segregationists; and
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38 WHEREAS, during the time these Confederate monuments were constructed, our culture
39 was glorifying confederate leaders who served to promote and defend the cause of an elite's right
40 to own people as property; and
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42 WHEREAS, these monuments were erected at a time when, as in many other areas of
43 the south, there existed a period where African Americans were not given a representative voice
44 as to what kind of monument they would like to have to represent a city, state, or our nation; and
45
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1 WHEREAS, in a diverse and modem state of many cultures, it is important that this state
2 represent all, by not glorifying divisive figures of its past; and
3
4 WHEREAS, removal of Confederate statues from public spaces will encourage
5 Americans to confront the historical significance of racial slavery and the enduring legacy of Jim
6 Crow segregation; and
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8 WHEREAS, since 2015, at least 60 symbols of the Confederacy have been removed or
9 renamed across the United States; and
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11 WHEREAS, in Austin, Texas, statues of two confederate generals, Robert E. Lee and
12 Albert Sidney Johnston, were taken down on August 21,2017; and I
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14 WHEREAS, in Durham, North Carolina, Duke University removed a Robert E. Lee
15 statue from Duke chapel on August 19, 2017; and
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17 WHEREAS, in New Orleans, Louisiana, the city council ordered removed four
18 confederate statues in April, 2017; and
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20 WHEREAS, in 2017, in Gainesville, Florida, a confederate monument known as "Old
21 Joe" that stood in front of Alachua County Administration Building was taken down after 113
22 years; and
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24 WHEREAS, in Tampa, Florida, the Hillsborough County Commission agreed to remove
25 a Confederate monument known as Memoria if private funds could be raised for its removal. On
26 August 17, 2017 three Tampa Sports teams have agreed to pay for the removal; and
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28 WHEREAS, in Orlando, Florida, city officials removed a Confederate statue known as
29 Johnny Reb from Lake Eola Park in June, 2017; and
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31 WHEREAS, in St. Petersburg, Florida, city officials on August 15,2017, removed a
32 Confederate plaque and marker concerning the Stonewall Jackson Highway; and
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·34 WHEREAS, in 2017, in Daytona Beach, Florida, city officials removed, from Riverfront
35 Park in downtown Daytona Beach, three confederate plaques commemorating Confederate
36 soldiers; and
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38 WHEREAS, in 2017, in Jacksonville, Florida, city council officials have called for all
39 Confederate monuments to be moved from city property to a museum; and
40
41 WHEREAS, in Pensacola, Florida, city officials, in August, 2017, called to remove
42 Confederate statues in Lee Square from downtown Pensacola; and
43
44 WHEREAS, in Richmond, Virginia, a former capital of the confederacy, city officials
45 directed a city Commission to consider removing confederate statues; and
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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 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 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.
PASSED AND ADOPTED this __ day of _____ , 2017.
ATTEST:
CITY CLERK
READ AND APPROVED AS TO FORM,
LANGUAGE, LEGALITY AND
EXECUTION THEREOF
CITY ATTORNEY
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APPROVED:
MAYOR
COMMISSION VOTE:
Mayor Stoddard:
Vice Mayor Welsh:
Commissioner Harris:
Commissioner Edmond:
Commissioner Liebman: