For decades, millions of tourists have visited the park that sits just east of downtown Atlanta. It features the largest memorial to the Confederacy in the United States.
The enormous rock sculpture at Stone Mountain Park contains the faces of Confederate General Robert E. Lee, Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and Confederate General Thomas J. “Stonewall” Jackson.
Recently, cities and states across the country have started removing symbols of the Confederacy, such as statues. Street names are also being changed.
Stone Mountain Park, located just east of Atlanta, is overseen by the Stone Mountain Memorial Association (SMMA), which until last week, had never been lead by an African American.
Athens minister Abraham Mosley, who is Black, has been appointed to the position by Governor Brian Kemp. The state authority has been in existence for more than 60 years.
Rev. Mosley said he’d really like to see the park move forward. “All you see out there is the Confederacy, which reminds people of yesterday.” According to Mosely he’d like to see the park reflect changes that have occurred in the country.
As for the carving, when I spoke to Rev. Mosley Sunday evening he said “There are some things that will come down, but I don’t think that will.” According to Mosely “It took them 40 or 50 years to put that thing up there and I don’t think its coming down.”
The day before, founding Chairman of the Martin Luther King Jr. Advisory Council, Georgia State Senator Emmanuel Jones, said he expects “rapid changes”at the park now that Rev. Mosley is in charge.
Jones’comments came during the DeKalb County legislative delegation appearance Saturday morning before the local branch of the NAACP. He said that he had a conversation with Mosley prior to his installation and “they are going to remove those (Confederate) flags at the base of Stone Mountain, they are going to rename those streets and things named after those Confederate generals, and they are going to discontinue using the logo of those Confederate soldiers on Stone Mountain.”
“With all the social injustices we face today”, said DeKalb NAACP President Teresa Hardy, “It is our time to change the hands of time intentionally.”
Atlanta NAACP President Richard Rose has continuously called for “sandblasting the faces off of Stone Mountain”. Rose said Saturday, “All Confederate monuments must be removed from public property as part of the campaign to repudiate racism.”
Current Georgia law protects the gigantic carving, but a bill introduced by DeKalb State Representative Billy Mitchell, if passed, would remove the SMMA from having oversight over the monstrous statue.
According to DeKalb NAACP President Hardy, “We are diligently waiting for the rapid changes of all confederate signs, street names, monuments, etc to be removed.
It is our plan to hold Governor Kemp and SMMA accountable for implementing these changes this year.”
Later Saturday Senator Jones said “The carvings need to go, however this Governor has not shown much interest.” Jones went on to say “I think the Governor and Pastor Mosley are looking at ‘what can we do now’ to show goodwill and faith. The DeKalb state lawmaker said he’d seen the language in the legislation where the State purchased the property on which Stone Mountain Park is built. “It was a bad deal for Georgians”, said Jones.
The first meeting of the SMMA with Rev. Mosley as Chairman is Monday.
*story by Audacy