Florida county won’t move Confederate statue

Fox News

TAMPA, Fla. –  The Latest on a call to move a Confederate monument in Tampa, Florida (all times local):

1:30 p.m.

Officials have decided not to move a Confederate memorial from in front of a Florida courthouse. Instead, a mural will be put behind it to display, in the words of one county leader, “the love and diversity” in the community.  

The Hillsborough County Commission voted 4-3 Wednesday not to remove a statue that was erected in Tampa in 1911. Called ‘Memoria In Aeterna,’ it sits outside a courthouse administrative building and depicts two Civil War soldiers next to an obelisk.

Commissioner Les Miller first proposed removing it, and said Wednesday that it’s time to take the monument down. He said It represents divisiveness and “an era of bondage.”

But after listening to more than two hours of impassioned public comment, another commissioner said a compromise was needed. In a split vote, the commission agreed.

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7 a.m.

Debate over whether to move a Confederate memorial is coming to another Southern U.S. city when county officials in Florida debate whether to move a Civil War memorial in front of a courthouse.

The Hillsborough County Commission is scheduled Wednesday morning to discuss a statue that was first erected in Tampa in 1911. Commissioner Les Miller has called for the removal of the statue.

Advocates of Southern heritage say removing these symbols is a disservice to the dozens of men who fought in the Civil War.

Orlando city workers on Tuesday started moving a Confederate statue called “Johnny Reb” from a park in the heart of downtown to a nearby cemetery, following renewed public outcry that it is a symbol of racism and white supremacy.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2017/06/21/latest-florida-county-wont-move-confederate-statue.html