Stone Mountain Coaltion

STONE MOUNTAIN COALITION

Derrica Williams, DeKalb Section President and one of the Founders of the STONE MOUNTAIN ACTION COALITION (SMAC), is working tirelessly to remove all confederate memorials from Georgia, specifically Stone Mountain Park located in DeKalb County Georgia. Confederate memorials represent hate and are a shrine to white supremacy and this park has the largest confederate monument in the world. Georgia State Representative Billy Mitchell invited Derrica to join him at a press conference on February 3, 2021 when he announced the filing of HB237 and HB238, legislation that will strike down the racist Georgia laws that require the park to serve as an official memorial to the confederacy. There are several Representatives who are also sponsoring this Bill – Rep. Shelley Hutchinson, Rep. Gregg Kennard, Rep. Kim Schofield, Rep. Sandra Scott and Rep. Erica Thomas. During the press conference Derrica stated “Stone Mountain Park has the largest confederate monument in the world, our world, our country, our state, MY county! I keep using words like “your”, “our” and “my” because that’s exactly what this fight has always been about – making this world a better place for WE, THE PEOPLE! We are determined to do everything we can to make Stone Mountain Park, which is a public park owned by the State of Georgia, an inclusive and welcoming place that no longer celebrates the darkest period in the history of this country.” The Bills, when signed by Georgia Governor Brian Kemp, will allow us to begin the work that we must do to liberate Stone Mountain Park from the confederacy. To those who oppose progress, healing and transformation at the park and to those who might be undecided about change at the park – we say this - we are not here to erase or re-write history. The DeKalb NCNW Section, along with SMAC are focused on what Stone Mountain Park means to Georgia, today. Our goal is to have the streets renamed inside of the park, the confederate flags removed at the base of the mountain and contribute to reimagining the park as a place that is welcoming to everyone. We shouldn’t have to drive down Robert E. Lee Blvd and Stonewall Jackson Drive while visiting the park. We shouldn’t have to walk under confederate flags when we start to climb the mountain. Our state tax dollars are being spent to maintain a park that celebrates a period in this country’s history that literally thought of Black people as less than human – we will not stand for this continuous insult any longer!

In order to provide some background information about Stone Mountain Park, please note the following - it is a place of natural wonder, beauty and recreation. Yet, it’s reputation and identity as a confederate memorial make it a source of controversy, protest and violence. Let’s be clear – today, when white supremacists rally, riot, threaten and destroy, confederate flags and symbols are their chosen banners. Yet those symbols fly high and are embedded across Stone Mountain Park. Museums are the places for symbols of the past. Stone Mountain Park was not created to honor the dead of war. It was created as a political statement, at the urging of a segregationist governor, to directly challenge Brown v. Board of Education and the birth of the Civil Rights Movement. Did you know that the Park officially opened on April 14, 1965 – the 100th anniversary to the day of the assassination of Abraham Lincoln? In its current form, Stone Mountain Park is a modern tribute to the confederacy. No Georgian should have to walk under flags of the confederacy simply to use the trail that leads to the top of Stone Mountain.

State Parks are places for all citizens to enjoy. Not places to glorify the insidious idea of white supremacy now, or the confederate ideology of the past, that embraced slavery, and caused a war that resulted in cataclysmic suffering and death. No public park should serve to glorify those who fought for slavery. The time for the people of Georgia to reclaim our park has come and the DeKalb NCNW Section, SMAC and those in our community who have aligned with our cause, have pledged to not take our foot off of the pedal of progress.

This should not be a political issue. We all want future generations of Georgians to look back and say, when it was time to make decisions that no longer align with a large sector of this state and ultimately this country’s population, we did the right thing. We are determined to do everything we can to make Stone Mountain Park, which is a public park owned by the State of Georgia, an inclusive and welcoming place that no longer celebrates the darkest period in the history of this country.”

Please visit stonemountainaction.org to sign up as a supporter. We need your support, even if you don’t live in DeKalb County or the state of Georgia!