A Confederate monument in McDonough’s square will be removed in the next 60 days, the latest shrine to the Confederacy slated to be taken down in metro Atlanta.
The Henry County Commission on Tuesday approved the removal after an extensive discussion about who owns the structure and what to do with it once it is taken down.
The monument, which is believed to have been erected in 1910 by a local chapter of the Daughters of the Confederacy, is in McDonough’s downtown square on land owned by the county, the county said. Nearly 13,800 people had signed a Change.org petition to have the structure removed as of Tuesday morning.
» PHOTOS: Confederate memorials in metro Atlanta
Confederate statues from Rockdale County to Decatur have come down in recent weeks as national protests over the deaths of George Floyd and other Black Americans killed at the hands of police have renewed local pushes to remove the shrines.
The Henry Commission vote was 4-to-1, with County Commissioner Gary Barham in opposition.
“Right now I don’t support taking the statue down, but I do support having a conversation,” Barham said, adding that he thinks the debate around the monument has been one-sided.
But Commissioner Dee Clemmons, who introduced the resolution to remove it, argued that the monument would be better suited in a museum or a private collection.
“That statue doesn’t belong on Henry County property,” she said.
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