澳彩开奖

At noon today, in Atlanta鈥檚 Piedmont Park along with the NAACP, the Alliance for Black Lives and the Georgia Alliance for Social Justice. It鈥檚 part of our campaign to remove Confederate monuments from public spaces in Georgia.

In conjunction with today鈥檚 rally, we鈥檙e releasing a second edition of our report , which catalogues more than 1,700 publicly sponsored Confederate monuments, school and street names, holidays and other symbols. The overwhelming majority were erected or established as part of a calculated, pervasive strategy to support white supremacy and perpetuate a false narrative of the Civil War as something other than a defense of slavery.

This false narrative 鈥� of a noble endeavor fought to defend the South from Northern aggression 鈥� has persisted for over 150 years, even though the Confederacy鈥檚 founding fathers left no question about their intent.

鈥淥ur new government is founded upon 鈥� the great truth that the negro is not equal to the white man; that slavery and subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition,鈥� declared Confederate Vice President Alexander H. Stephens in his 1861 鈥淐ornerstone speech.鈥�

Propping up the myths about the 鈥淟ost Cause鈥� are the many reminders of the Confederate military still found at county courthouses and other public spaces across the South. With 199 monuments and other symbols, Georgia trails only Virginia (247) and Texas (207) in the extent to which its government entities sponsor Confederacy iconography. Two Georgia counties, in fact, still fly the Confederate battle flag, a symbol long flaunted by white supremacists.

In Georgia, as in six other states, state law prohibits local governments from removing Confederate monuments.

We鈥檙e working to change that.

Until we can have an honest conversation about our country鈥檚 history of racial oppression and violence, reconciliation will continue to escape our grasp.

One place to start is by dismantling the symbols of a regime that supported the enslavement of African Americans. We believe that any momentum for change is going to start at the local level: at kitchen tables, in houses of worship, at PTA meetings 鈥� and at rallies like the one we鈥檙e hosting today.

Change requires the work of many. We live in a polarized country where Confederate monuments and their prevalence in the South keep us divided. They don鈥檛 have to. If you鈥檙e in Atlanta, 聽to tell the real stories behind these monuments and to have an honest conversation about why they need to come down.

And if you鈥檙e not in Atlanta, find out what鈥檚 in your community by taking a look at 鈥� because it鈥檚 about all of us, together.

The Editors

P.S. Here are some other pieces we think are valuable this week:

• by Max Blau for Bitter Southerner
• by Fayemi Shakur for The New York Times
• by Lewis Raven Wallace for Southerly
• 聽by Yascha Mounk for The New Yorker

澳彩开奖's Weekend Reads are a weekly summary of the most important reporting and commentary from around the country on civil rights, economic and racial inequity, and hate and extremism.聽Sign up to receive Weekend Reads every Saturday morning.