Despite death threats from the KKK and Neo-Confederate groups, Florence racial justice group pushes on in the fight to relocate Lauderdale County Confederate Monument; judge to make decision within 90 days

The fate of a Lauderdale County Confederate Monument is in the hands of a Lauderdale County Circuit Judge who heard arguments from both sides on Friday, February 18, 2022. Friday’s hearing came after an amicus brief was filed by the Shoals area racial justice group Project Say Something which argues the monument has no place in a public space.

In the brief, the members said the monument needs to be relocated to Solider’s Rest, a cemetery in Florence where Confederate soldiers are buried. Their brief was in response to a request for an injunction filed by Lauderdale County residents identifying as part of the Lauderdale County Republican Committee who want to keep the monument in front of the county’s courthouse calling it a “historic and irreplaceable monument.”

Project Say Something was hoping Friday’s hearing would go in their favor so the monument could be moved. The city of Florence took steps to have the monument removed and has raised  $25,000 to pay the fine for removing the statue.

Camille Bennett, who leads Project Say Something, said, “This hearing is incredibly important because the city of Florence has already filed a resolution to remove the monument and has the funding in place for the $25,000 fine to remove the monument. We fully expect the monument to be moved quickly once this injunction is lifted. This will help us reach a goal that we have been fighting for five years. The city has already laid the concrete padding at the cemetery. All that needs to happen now is to move the monument from the public space.”

On Friday, Lauderdale County Circuit Judge William Powell heard from all parties and ultimately decided to take 90 days to weigh the testimony before making a decision.

Bennett is concerned about Powell’s decision to delay his ruling 90 days due to a bill in the Alabama Legislature that would increase the fine for moving a Confederate monument from a one-time fine of $25,000 to $5,000 per day until the monument is moved to its original location. If the bill is passed, it would go into effect within 90 days of passage. State Sen. Gerald Allen introduced the bills.

On Friday, the three residents who filed suit to stop the monument movement, argued the monument was placed in a prominent place – that they claimed benefits Lauderdale County residents. They also argued that moving the monument violates the state’s Monument Preservation Act. The plaintiffs also asked the court to determine who owns the statue, even though the majority agrees that the owner is the United Daughters of the Confederacy.  The citizens were represented by Black attorney Maurice McCaney.

The city of Florence argued they should not be part of the lawsuit because they now claim they have no control over the monument’s movement. The Lauderdale County Commission would have to make that decision, it said, and they have already voted not to move the monument.

David Gespass, an attorney for the state chapter of the National Lawyer’s Guild, represented Project Say Something.

“We argued that the MPA is unconstitutional because a monument on public property constitutes government speech and no governmental body has unfettered free speech. Specifically, we claim that speech that advocates against equal protection, guaranteed by the 14th Amendment, violates the Constitution and, while individuals may have a First Amendment right to speech advocating against constitutional principles, governments do not,” he said. “Therefore, since history confirms that the specific intent of the statue was to proclaim and enforce white supremacy, no governmental body has the right to engage in such speech and, at least as it applies to confederate monuments, the MPA is unconstitutional.”

And it’s been a hard-fought battle, she said. “We had a whole movement,” she said. “So many people came together. Even the Indigo Girls came and fought with us.” The Indigo Girls are an American folk-rock music duo from Atlanta.

Project Say Something has been advocating for the removal of the monument since 2017 and has been met with hate in the conservative city in North Alabama.

In 2020, PSS held protests for 30 weeks, five days a week in the city.  “We had the Ku Klux Klan show up,” she said.

Bennett said five klansmen showed up in their hoods and white robes and began to heckle her.

The Klan isn’t the only hate group they’ve dealt with. They’ve seen other neo-Confederate groups such as the League of the South and Proud Boys.

Bennett said PSS has received death threats, had intimidation attempts and received hateful and violent online messages.

In response to Treadaway’s Anti Riot bills, PSS formed Alabama Moves in 2021, a coalition of Black organizers across the state of Alabama, dedicated to challenging racist, sexist, and homophobic policies that affect Black bodies.

Through it all, an Apple filmmaker is currently documenting PSS’s fight against policies that adversely impact marginalized and disenfranchised communities in Alabama.

Despite the pushback from white supremacists, Bennett and PSS have not let the threats and attempts to silence them deter their mission. They encourage concerned Alabamians and allies to join the fight.