A County in the Atlanta Suburbs is Removing its Confederate Monument

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Feb 10, 2021

The Gwinnett County seat of Lawrenceville removed a Confederate monument from its courthouse square and has decided to place it in storage. 

The monument was installed in 1993 in the Gwinnett County seat of Lawrenceville. It was removed on February 4, 2021 after commissioners gave the measure their approval on February 2. 

Thanks to the PC craze of the past year, Confederate monuments have been toppled left and right. Last June, a monument in DeKalb County was removed while another in Henry County was taken down in July. Other Georgia cities like Brunswick are discussing this issue.

One of the county commissioners, Kirkland Carden, was very active in campaigning for removing the Lawrenceville monument and said that its ultimate removal was a sign of “progress.”

“It will not remove 150 years of hatred and white supremacy, but it’s a damn good start,” Carden stated. “This has no place in a modern-day Gwinnett County.” AP News reported the following about the monument:

“The Lawrenceville monument has an early Confederate flag etched into it, as well as a picture of a Confederate soldier and bears the dates 1861-1865 and the notation “LEST WE FORGET.” It also has a quote from Winston Churchill.”

This past summer, Gwinnett County Solicitor Brian Whiteside filed a lawsuit to facilitate the removal of the Lawrenceville on the grounds that it constituted a “public nuisance.”

Gwinnett County Solicitor Brian Whiteside filed a lawsuit the past summer to have the Lawrenceville monument taken down. He justified his lawsuit by declaring the monument a “public nuisance.” Joe Bath, commander of the Lawrenceville camp of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, said that the county should have made a decision after the lawsuit was settled. The Sons of Confederate Veterans raised the money to erect the statue, maintain it, and take part in the lawsuit. 

“These people, they have no concern for the law, no concern for humanity,” he stated. “It’s funny how all of a sudden these things are hurtful. … I never saw that monument as a threat to anything.”

Based on what’s happening over the past year, this removal will only be the beginning of further efforts to destroy American history.