Georgia Taxpayers and Local Businesses Urge Gov. Kemp and Bill Stephens to Cancel Confederate Memorial Day Event in Public Stone Mountain Park

Sons of Confederate Veterans event to feature keynote speaker who is a leading member of a racist hate group that opposes interracial marriage, described black people as a “retrograde species of humanity,” and proposed proponent of “training Christians for armed battle” according to the Southern Poverty Law Center

DATE: March 29, 2023

MEDIA CONTACT:  For media inquiries, contact Gabrielle Rogers at media@stonemountainaction.org and support@stonemountainaction.org

The Stone Mountain Action Coalition (SMAC) calls on the Stone Mountain Memorial Association (SMMA) to rescind the permit granted to the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ (SCV) Confederate Memorial Day event scheduled for Saturday, April 29th. The true nature of the event is revealed by the keynote speaker, John Weaver, pastor of Freedom Baptist Ministries in Fitzgerald, Ga., and a leading member of the Council of Conservative Citizens, who according to the Southern Poverty Law Center is a hate group that opposes interracial marriage and has described black people as a “retrograde species of humanity.” The SPLC also notes that, “he is a religious mainstay of the racist neo-Confederate movement and has recently become a leading proponent of training Christians for armed battle.”

In 2022, the SCV hosted this event and featured a keynote address from Martin O’Toole, SCV’s spokesperson and President and Chairman of the white nationalist group, Charles Martel Society. Multiple self-identified white nationalist and neo-Nazi groups encouraged their membership and network to attend this event which the SMMA was made aware of. In 2021 the SMMA rejected the SCV’s application for a permit for the Confederate Memorial event citing the possibility of, “a clear and present danger to public health or safety.” That has not changed. If anything, the situation has gotten worse in the intervening years. According to a January 2023 report from the Center for the Study of Hate and Extremism at California State University, hate crimes continued to rise in major American cities in 2022, with preliminary data showing levels not recorded since the 1990s. In this environment it is irresponsible for the SMMA to grant approval for the SCV to hold the planned event. As Stone Mountain Park CEO Bill Stephens has noted, the Park “does not have adequate resources to protect the event’s participants, employees, and guests.”

Several months after the event was canceled in 2021, a data leak revealed that some SCV members were active participants of violent white supremacy groups, including some who were involved in the deadly Unite the Right riot in Charlottesville, Virginia. Stone Mountain Park is no stranger to these white supremacist groups and the SMMA is well aware of the threat to public safety that they pose. We saw this play out during a white nationalist rally that took place in Stone Mountain Village in August 2020, when the Park rightfully chose to close its gates and called in the Georgia National Guard because of the continued threat of violence to the public and surrounding community. Not only is the board aware of the SCV, its newly appointed member, Jeff Mullis, a former state senator and alleged SCV member, worked directly with the group in drafting and passing a Georgia bill that protects Confederate monuments. 

Not only is the event a threat to public safety, it is highly offensive to the vast majority of regular Park visitors, most of whom come from the Atlanta area and in particular from the majority-Black neighborhoods that surround the Park. As noted above, the keynote speaker for the planned event is a known racist and should not be allowed a public platform at a state-owned facility to espouse white supremacist rhetoric that seeks to create division and conflict among American citizens.

Allowing the event is also a misuse of Georgia taxpayer dollars. Although the Park is privately managed by a board of directors appointed by Georgia’s Governor, Brian Kemp, it is state-owned and subsidized. Further, the extra police and military presence required for the event will likely wind up being billed to Georgia taxpayers. While Georgia state law mandates (for now) that the Park function as a memorial to the Confederacy it does not require that Park leadership allow specific events. Canceling the planned Confederate Memorial Day ceremony is well within the power of the SMMA board and Park management and, as noted above, has been done before.

The SCV event scheduled for 10:00 am Saturday, April 29th, will take place inside of the Park, on its Memorial Lawn underneath the carving of confederate leaders.  . 

It important to note that after last year’s net loss of $8,588,217 and taking nearly $1,000,000 in Georgia taxpayer dollars to repair its crumbling infrastructure, now more than ever Stone Mountain Park should not hold this event as it will disrupt day-to-day operations, create bad publicity and add excessive costs to deal with public security needs that occur when groups like the SCV hold provocative public events.

While the study of the Civil War is legitimate, a Lost Cause shrine glamorizing the Confederacy that has no historical connection to the Civil War is a clear and dangerous threat to our American democracy. Unlike real historical sites, Stone Mountain is not host to a battlefield or historic cemetery, but rather is directly tied to the rebirth of the Ku Klux Klan, the Jim Crow Era, and mass resistance, and opposition to desegregation and the Civil Rights movement.

We strongly encourage the media to cover and investigate the Stone Mountain Memorial Association (SMMA):


About the Stone Mountain Action Coalition

The Stone Mountain Action Coalition is an advocacy network of concerned citizens, political leaders, community organizations, faith-based groups and businesses who are dedicated to supporting constructive solutions and ideas that reflect a new, shared vision for the Stone Mountain Park. The Coalition is advocating for short and long-term changes to help build a path forward by developing a community-driven approach to transform the park into a more inclusive, and economically sustainable destination.

For more information visit: www.stonemountainaction.org or www.facebook.com/StoneMountainAction