UNF's #1 Student-Run News Source

UNF Spinnaker

UNF's #1 Student-Run News Source

UNF Spinnaker

UNF's #1 Student-Run News Source

UNF Spinnaker

Confederate statue removed from Jacksonville park overnight

Zach Yearwood, News Editor

A monument depicting a Confederate soldier was taken down Monday night from the pedestal it once stood on in Hemming Park, just outside Jacksonville City Hall.

City Hall was the scene for a protest Tuesday morning led by Jaguars’ running back Leonard Fournette and rapper Lil Duval, which mayor Lenny Curry attended and spoke at.

“We’ve got to find a way to come together,” Curry said. “We’re not going to agree on everything – that’s just not human history, human nature. We’ve got to find common ground.”

Just hours before the protest, city crews were seen using a crane to remove the statue, according to News4Jax.

At the peaceful demonstration, Mayor Curry followed by announcing that the other Confederate monuments in the city will also be taken down.

He said he had been thinking of removing them for “some time” but especially in the last few  days.

Statues devoted to Confederate troops have been issues of contention in recent years. 

Citizens in multiple cities protested for their removal in 2017 after a ‘Unite the Right’ rally in Charlottesville, Virginia turned violent.

In 2018, a group called Take ‘em Down Jax organized a 40-mile “March for Change” from Downtown Jacksonville to St. Augustine, urging the cities to remove the statues, calling them symbols of hate.

Jacksonville’s City Council held multiple discussions regarding removing the statues, but none were successful.

There have been no announcements on what will happen to the statues once they come down.

___

For more information or news tips, or if you see an error in this story or have any compliments or concerns, contact [email protected].

About the Contributor
Navigate Left
  • Author Gina Caserta (right) and her debut memoir In Fifty Pages or More (left). (Photos courtesy of Gina Caserta)

    Community

    How a UNF graduate student is continuing the college sexual assault prevention conversation

  • Text reads INTERFAITH on top of four ink splotches in UNFs colors of dark blue, light blue and gray. Two hands together in prayer is on a white circle on top of the ink and beneath the text

    Community

    Religious students feel ignored by Student Government after Interfaith Space removal

  • Protesters marched down up and down Town Center Parkway on Saturday in a march for Palestine.

    Community

    Gallery: Activists rally for Palestine in Jacksonville

  • The sukkah faces out toward the water at Ogier Gardens.

    Community

    Connecting with nature during harvest festival, Jewish Student Union opens sukkah at UNF Ogier Gardens

  • Photo courtesy of 86 Hope.

    Community

    Banjos and beater kids, an interview with 86 Hope

  • UNF logo.

    Community

    Postponed: UNF to hold community gathering Tuesday after racist shooting over weekend

  • From left to right: Gabriel Peralta, Ethan Spud Bond, Tyler Peterson and Andy Kirton, who comprise the band Photophobia along with drummer Byron Nelson.

    Community

    Live from 5565; How Photophobia is challenging Jacksonville’s death metal expectations

  • WeChat on a phone with other messaging apps

    Community

    BOG WeChat ban builds barrier for international students

  • The Chabad of Southside’s entrance.

    Community

    How the Chabad of Southside has helped Jacksonville students prepare for Passover

  • The University of North Florida hosted the Female Founders Forum on Friday, March 3, 2023.

    Community

    Embracing Equity: Female Founders Forum held at UNF

Navigate Right

Comments (1)

Spinnaker intends for this area to be used to foster healthy, thought-provoking discussion. Comments are expected to adhere to our standards and to be respectful and constructive. As such, we do not permit the use of profanity, foul language, personal attacks, slurs, defamation, or the use of language that might be interpreted as libelous. Comments are reviewed and will be removed if they do not adhere to these standards. Spinnaker does not allow anonymous comments, and Spinnaker requires a valid email address. The email address will not be displayed but will be used to confirm your comments.
All UNF Spinnaker Picks Reader Picks Sort: Newest

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • A

    Abel FelicdadJun 10, 2020 at 11:25 am

    If Charles Hemming is a ‘racist’ and a ‘white supremacist,’ then those words don’t really mean what people think they mean. Those words aren’t quite the antithesis of seeing Black people as equals, not anymore. Hemming wasn’t the one who founded a terrorist group after the war, unless you consider a bank cashier terrorism. We musn’t lump him in with the people who actually did such things. This is from Hemming’s own memoir: “At Mason, in Georgia, we came across a colored cavalry regiment, and they took from us every N-gro [censored to make WordPress happy, wasn’t a term of disparagement back then] in our ranks, five or six. My boy, Billy, was among them. I pled for him and he pled for himself, but it was of no avail; they took him anyhow, and from that day to this I have never heard of him.” In no way would he disparage anyone who fought along side him against the common enemy of tyranny. Yes, slavery was a bad idea! It’s inevitably dehumanizing, but most people treated slaves like decent human beings, otherwise it wouldn’t have lasted as long as it did. If Hemming’s words are those of someone who saw Black people as below-human, what must I conclude? The only requirement of ‘white supremacy’ is that you’re a White person who is living and breathing. ‘Judge people by the content of their character’ for crying out loud!

    Reply
1