Mayoral candidates' views on Confederate monuments split on party lines

The Take 'Em Down Jax protestors still rally each Friday in front of City Hall demanding the removal of the Confederate monument from Springfield Park.

They might still be picketing in July when the next mayor and City Council take office because the current council has repeatedly put off making a decision on whether the monument should stay or go.

Mayor Lenny Curry, who cannot run again because of term limits, has supported moving the monument and put $500,000 in this year's budget to cover the cost if City Council decided to make that change. Curry's stance has been that city-owned property should not be the site of a monument that divides the community and represents racial hatred to some residents.

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JAX Chamber President Daniel Davis, a Republican, is the only candidate running to replace Curry who has not taken a position one way or the other on whether the city should move the monument.

"What I've said publicly is we're not going to use taxpayer dollars to relocate any of the Confederate monuments," Davis said in an interview with First Coast News. "I think there are some private sector solutions to a lot of those."

Davis declined to meet with Times-Union reporters for an interview, but other candidates who fielded questions in wide-ranging sessions have staked out clear-cut positions on whether the city should move the monument.

The Republican-controlled state Legislature is considering restrictions on the ability of local governments to move historical monuments, including those for the Confederacy, so that could trump the city's decision-making authority if it makes it through the Legislature.

Sharp split between Democrats and Republicans

The positions taken by mayoral candidates mirror the split citywide between Democratic voters and Republicans voters. A University of North Florida poll released Feb. 28 found 79% of Democrats support moving Confederate monuments from public space. Among Republicans, the view was reversed with 83% opposed to moving such monuments off public space.

Both Democrats running for mayor say the city should move the monument, which is called "Tribute to the Women of the Southern Confederacy" and features a statue of a woman reading to two children, and another statue of a robe-draped woman holding a Confederate flag.

"I think it is critically important that we recognize everybody's humanity in the city," Donna Deegan said. "It's hard to have the conversations you really need to have or convince people you really have their best interests at heart when they continue to have to − in their own neighborhoods − walk by a monument to slavery."

Deegan said moving the monument also sends a positive message to business leaders considering a move to Jacksonville.

"No business wants to come to a city that is still fighting the Civil War," she said. "We don't need to do that in Jacksonville. I recognize public opinion on this is very split, but sometimes leaders just have to do what is the right thing."

Former state senator Audrey Gibson also strongly advocates moving the monument from the park.

"I believe that any symbol of oppression, degradation, sexism should not be in public space," Gibson said.

She said the city should commission the Douglas Anderson School of the Arts to design and build "something that is reflective of who we are in modern times as a city."

"I know they would do a good job because I think what comes down should be replaced with something," she said. "To me, it just kind of totally puts the conversation so it goes away."

Republican candidates LeAnna Cumber, Al Ferraro and Frank Keasler say the monument should say where it's been since 1915.

"I do not believe we can erase or ignore history," Cumber said at a Feb. 7 mayoral forum at the Interfaith Center of Northeast Florida. "I think we need to talk about it. I am not in favor of trying to wipe it out."

She said the city has an opportunity to "contextualize and discuss our history" by using the Confederate monument as a way to learn about the past.

In her sit-down interview at the Times-Union office, she said the Confederate monument brings out heated rhetoric during the public comment portion of City Council meetings, but it's not at the top of the list that residents want the city to focus on in their everyday lives.

"I think there's a frustration that government just doesn't listen to what's happening on the ground, and there's a disconnect between what's happening on the ground and what's happening in the halls of government," she said.

Ferraro said when he's talked to advocates for moving the Confederate monument, they've also said they want to have a say in renaming city bridges, roads, and even the name of the city itself.

"They're passionate about what they want," he said. "I know that people do believe what they believe, but my belief is these are historical markers. We need to tell the good, the bad, the whole story of everything that's going on."

He said if the city takes down the Confederate monument in Springfield Park, it "won't end" because there will be demands to change or rename something else.

He said "instead of tearing down history," the city should find ways to tell more about the city's history, such as Freedom Park in the East Arlington part of his City Council district that will have historical markers about the Cosmo community that started as a land grant for freed slaves.

Keasler said the Confederate monument could become part of a reimagined park called Harmony Park that would have a "Wall of Truth" and a "Path of Truth" along with another new monument.

"If there will be harmony in our future, it will be because the truth of history runs through it, and I think you'll be moved by what God has given me as a vision for what we should do there," Keasler said.

Non-party affiliated candidate suggests "monument park"

Omega Allen, who is running for mayor without party affiliation, said she favors a city site that would be a "monument park" that people could visit if they want to see the Confederate monument.

"Just as slavery is history, it's history," she said. "But because of some of the things that they bring to mind, I don't believe they should be left where they are. But I don't think they should be taken down and destroyed."

She said by having a site specifically for monuments, people who object to the monument would not see it when they went to Springfield Park, but if people want to see the "Tribute to the Women of the Southern Confederacy," it still would be available to them.

Wells Todd, founder of Take 'Em Down, said he thinks the protests against the Confederate monuments have raised awareness about the city's history for many people. He said it "really takes a movement to move politicians."

"So this line and the size of right now, we hope to triple it, quadruple it," he said during a Friday picket line protest. "We'd like it to go around City Hall to send a message that the city is tired of celebrating white supremacy and that the statues need to come down."

He said he does not have much confidence in any of the candidates yet. He said the the economic system has let him and others down because elected officials cannot serve both big companies and "the regular person."

Hope McMath, who has taken part in rallies and marches against the Confederate monuments, said she thinks Deegan would follow through on moving the Confederate monument "and not just for the removal of a piece of stone or piece of bronze" but as broader strategy for tackling affordable housing, poverty and educational inequities.

"If you can't take these things down, you're never going to touch those other issues," she said.

Times-Union reporter Hanna Holthaus contributed to this report.

This article originally appeared on Florida Times-Union: Jacksonville mayor candidates split on Confederate monument