The state of our nation’s Confederate monuments is in the public eye once again after a Florida Representative introduced a bill that would prevent the removal of certain monuments and memorials honoring the U.S. military and first responders.
Just this month, a North Carolina city directed a group, the United Daughters of the Confederacy, to remove their monument by Jan. 31, according to the Winston-Salem Journal.
Their Confederate soldier monument was vandalized twice, the second instance happened on Christmas day with the words “Cowards & Traitors,” inscribed on the memorial.
The debate over the value of keeping these memorials became a national conversation after a white supremacy rally in Charlottesville, Virginia in 2017 which centered on a battle to keep a statue honoring Confederate general, Robert E. Lee.
Since then, various bills have been introduced to protect them. And with close to 2,000 public monuments honoring the Confederacy, as counted by the Southern Poverty Law Center, Rep. Mike Hill’s (R-FL) legislation is the newest effort to protect what some call important symbols in U.S. history.
The "Soldiers' and Heroes’' Monuments and Memorials Protection Act,” introduced by Hill in December, would make it illegal to remove public remembrances including memorials, religious symbols, and historical flags built on or after March 22, 1822.
Hill, who is also an Air Force veteran told Fox & Friends, “On one side, we have the left, that for some reason, wants to divide and destroy this nation. On the other side we have constitutional conservatives who believe in championing the rights of the individual, freedom of speech, freedom of religion, equal protection under the law and constitution that limits this government by the consent of the governed.”
According to the legislation, the remembrance would only be allowed to be removed, changed or moved if a repair is needed or there construction in the surrounding areas. The bill also states damaging any of these monuments would be considered a third-degree felony.
Last year, Hill filmed a Facebook live video in front of a Confederate Monument announcing his hope to bring President Trump’s Hollywood Star to Pensacola, Florida. While it’s unclear how support for the bill will fare with this year’s new Congress, the worth of keeping or destroying these monuments remains a divisive issue for many Americans.
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