Action Proposal: Immediate & Short-term Recommendations
The Stone Mountain Memorial Association (SMMA) is charged by state law, “to maintain an appropriate and suitable memorial for the Confederacy,” but the terms appropriate and suitable are not defined. While separate state law does protect the Confederate carving specifically, it does not require the SMMA to maintain a shrine for hate groups or a rally point for violence. These outcomes are likely to grow more frequent due to increasing global attention to the carving, increasing national demands for racial equity, ongoing removal of Confederate monuments across the nation and Georgia, and general frustration with SMMA’s slow pace of change. The dangerous conditions that these symbols create at the park and in the City of Stone Mountain are neither appropriate nor suitable for the people of Georgia. While SMMA’s hands may be tied by state law regarding some aspects of the memorial, there are many action steps that the SMMA can and should take now.
SMAC aims to accomplish the following goals:
Remove Confederate Symbols.
Interpret and Contextualize the Confederacy.
Open the Park to New Markets.
To accomplish these goals, SMAC proposes both immediate and near-term actions.
View the 2023 presentation to the SMMA and Warner Museums regarding the proposed “truth telling” exhibit.