To: Orlando City Council
Confederate Monument at Orlando's Lake Eola Park Belongs in a Museum, NOT in a Public Park
Please sign the petition today to tell the Orlando City Council that the Confederate monument at Lake Eola Park should be preserved in a museum where such an oppressive, unpatriotic image of racist American culture will be appropriately viewed for historical reference.
Why is this important?
A Confederate monument sits on display at downtown Orlando’s popular Lake Eola Park, a family-centered public space where inclusiveness is celebrated through many events and amenities.
The statue's inscription boasts: "This monument shall stand for years to come as our loving tribute to the Confederate soldier and as a memorial of his heroic courage, his unparalleled devotion, and his unselfish patriotism." We ask, what exactly is it that makes a monument of a Confederate soldier an appropriate symbol of patriotism to the United States of America when the goal of the Confederacy was to secede from the United States? This is NOT patriotism.
This monument also represents an overt display of pride in the marginalization of, and violence towards, Black people in the South as the Confederacy fought for secession in order to protect Southern supporters of slavery and its presence is entirely unacceptable in this public park.
We must learn from our past, but there are much more appropriate places for that learning to take place, such as a state history museum.
The statue's inscription boasts: "This monument shall stand for years to come as our loving tribute to the Confederate soldier and as a memorial of his heroic courage, his unparalleled devotion, and his unselfish patriotism." We ask, what exactly is it that makes a monument of a Confederate soldier an appropriate symbol of patriotism to the United States of America when the goal of the Confederacy was to secede from the United States? This is NOT patriotism.
This monument also represents an overt display of pride in the marginalization of, and violence towards, Black people in the South as the Confederacy fought for secession in order to protect Southern supporters of slavery and its presence is entirely unacceptable in this public park.
We must learn from our past, but there are much more appropriate places for that learning to take place, such as a state history museum.