SPLC Statement on the Removal of the Confederate Sailors & Soldiers Monument from Linn Park

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – On Monday night, the Confederate Sailors & Soldiers Monument was removed from Linn Park in Birmingham, Ala. The following statement is from Lecia Brooks, spokesperson for the Southern Poverty Law Center.

“On the same day Alabama observed a state holiday honoring Confederate President Jefferson Davis, Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin followed through on the city’s long overdue wish to remove a Confederate monument from a public park.

“Monuments to the Confederacy glorify those who fought to keep Black people in chains. These symbols are a constant reminder of our country’s ongoing dehumanization of Black people and systemic anti-Black racism – the results of which are playing out through protests across the U.S.

“Sadly, the state of Alabama, which passed a law preventing the removal of such monuments, refused to recognize what Birmingham has long understood: the racist symbol in Linn Park no longer represented the city’s values, morals and character and should be removed.”

The SPLC does not support erasing history, nor the defacing and/or destruction of any historic artifact. Learn about Confederate symbols on public land in the SPLC’s “Whose Heritage?” report.