Democratic lawmakers spoke Wednesday at the Georgia Capitol in support of two Georgia House bills to remove protections of Confederate monuments in the state.
‘When I look up and see Confederate monuments everywhere, I don’t need a reminder of my family’s trauma,” Rep. Shelly Hutchinson (D-Snellville) said Wednesday at a press conference, after filing House Bill 237 and House Bill 238 earlier this week.
HB 237 would remove protections of monuments on public property, including memorabilia related to the Confederate States of America, except for museums and Civil War battlefields. HB 238 would be a direct repeal of current law protecting existing monuments from removal by the state of Georgia.
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The Stone Mountain Action Coalition (SMAC), a movement for a more inclusive Stone Mountain Park, said it supported the bills.
SMAC’s Dennis Collard called out lawmakers who stand in the way of progress, adding that the bills, if passed and signed by Gov. Brian Kemp, would allow the work to liberate Stone Mountain Park from the Confederacy.
Both bills have five cosponsors in addition to Hutchinson; all are Democrats.
This story comes to The Current through a reporting partnership with GA Today, a non-profit newsroom focused on reporting in Georgia.