Todd Wells, an African American member of Take Em Down Jax, a group devoted to removing these monuments to the cause of white supremacy, stated, “The struggle for the removal of Confederate statues has been ongoing since they were erected. African blood is soaked into the earth of this nation. This Black Republican is only doing his job. He works for the ruling class. The very class that enslaved our people for over 200 years. The interest of the Black community is not his concern.”

Wells continued, “There can be no question anymore that these statues were erected to celebrate white supremacy. Those that defend these statues, those that are fighting to keep them up, are perfect examples of sellout politicians, white supremacists, and they are proof that schools are not teaching the true history of America.”

#JacksonvilleFL #Antiracism #ConfederateMonuments

Jacksonville, FL – On Jan. 29, over 250 people came out to Hemming Plaza in Downtown Jacksonville to demand that Confederate monuments honoring white supremacists and slave holders be taken down and the renaming of schools named after Confederate generals.

Currently in Jacksonville there exists Confederate Park, a statue in Hemming Park honoring Confederate soldiers and public schools named after Confederate generals – Robert E. Lee High School, Kirby Smith Middle School, Jefferson Davis Middle School and J.E.B Stuart Middle School. There are also bridges named after KKK members and white supremacists such as the Fuller Warren Bridge and the Isaiah Hart Bridge.

The rally, organized by Occupy Jax and Take Em Down, featured speakers from various organizations and clergy who came out to demand these monuments be removed from public spaces and to demand an end to white supremacy in Jacksonville.

Protesters chanted, “We’re fired up, we can’t take it no more,” and “Take ‘em down, take ‘em down, we don’t want no racist statues in our town, take ‘em down.”

“History is not reserved for the idol worship of genocidal slave holders,” said Monique Sampson of University of North Florida SDS and the Jacksonville Community Action committee. “Whether you’re fighting to take monuments down, whether you’re fighting against police brutality, fighting against Nazis at UNF or fighting to get Justice for Keegan Roberts or Maurice Hobbs, we must all stand together.”

The large crowd was met with fewer than 15 pro-white supremacist Confederacy counter protesters who were largely drowned out by the much larger and louder crowd calling to take the statues down. There was a heavy police prescience on hand with at least 100 officers around the vicinity of Hemming Plaza blocking off streets.

“This isn’t about a statue or a park or a name of a building, this is a moral issue. This is about the glorification and normalization of white supremacy,” said Haneen Ali, speaking on behalf of the Jacksonville Palestine Solidarity Network. “This is about white supremacy that stretches from Hemming Park to Israel.”

Protesters vowed to keep protesting and putting pressure on local politicians until the statues are taken down.

#JacksonvilleFL #Antiracism #ConfederateMonuments #TakeEmDown #OccupyJax

Tallahassee, FL — On Sept. 6, about a dozen students gathered at the Florida State University (FSU) Integration Statue to call for the removal of the Francis Eppes monument.

Students held signs including “No confederate statues” and a banner stating “Take down Francis Eppes.” FSU student Cea Moline introduced herself as a member of Students for a Democratic Society (SDS) and started the chant “Hey, hey, ho, ho, Francis Eppes has got to go!”

Moline went on to say, “This is a man who owned slaves on a plantation and started a slave-catching militia. This was a man who sold his land and gave his money to the confederacy. He went through letters to stop pro-emancipation work from coming into Tallahassee. This is a man who worked his whole life to support slavery and he is honored by this school. We must gather together to demand this statue be taken down.”

Dozens of students stopped to listen, forming a crowd around the protesters, as SDS members distributed leaflets with information on Francis Eppes.

“This statue is the visual, concrete representation of the white supremacy that our school was founded on, and continues to practice to this day. We think it's important that the school's vision of itself is inclusive for all students and community members, not just the privileged few,” said SDS member Maddie Hendrick.

The protest comes one day after FSU President John Thrasher announced the creation of a panel to review campus policy on names and recognitions, including campus statues. Thrasher said that this review was “essential” following the white supremacist violence in Charlottesville, Virginia.

SDS has been calling for Francis Eppes to be removed since 2016, when they launched a student body referendum on the statue. The referendum failed to pass, but SDS members say they are dedicated to removing the statue.

“We plan to be there at every stage of the review process, until the Francis Eppes statue is taken down,” said SDS member Katherine Draken.

#TallahasseeFL #PeoplesStruggles #AntiRacism #Antifascism #ConfederateMonuments

TakeEmDownJax has led the way in the fight to remove the Confederacy from Jacksonville, uniting multiple local groups , including the Jacksonville Community Action Committee, Veterans for Peace Jax, Young Workers of Jacksonville, and the Women’s March Jacksonville Chapter. The Tampa TakeEmDown coalition drove four hours to join the fight. This united effort was successful in outnumbering their opposition.

The arguments in support of keeping the monuments came from people repeatedly trying to convince everyone in the room they personally weren’t racist. One woman informed the council, “My daughter’s best friend is black, I’m not racist, but I am of my heritage and these monuments should stay.” This was easily refuted by point out what the white supremacists did in Charlottesville defending those monuments.

Syd Eastwin let everyone know, “Just the fact that this is still something up for debate in the year 2017 by this city council, is a clear sign people care about dead racist statues more than Black lives.” The heated statements continued with the opposition involved until the last quarter of the night when the pro-Confederates were outnumbered byTakeEmDownJax’s supporters.

This united effort to remove the symbols of the Confederacy from public spaces continues to fight in the form of direct action events and call-in days to the mayor and city council members. The next open forum Jacksonville City Council meeting is on will address this issue Sept. 12.

#JacksonvilleFL #Antiracism #JacksonvilleCommunityActionCommittee #ConfederateMonuments