Also Suggests Renaming Jefferson Davis Parkway;
Calls for 60-Day Public Discussion Period before Ultimate Council Vote
NEW ORLEANS – Today, Mayor Mitch Landrieu formally requested that the City Council begin the process to consider relocating four prominent Confederate monuments in New Orleans and to rename Jefferson Davis Parkway. During remarks to the City Council, Landrieu called on the City to begin a 60-day period of facilitated discussions and public meetings – in conjunction with the City’s Human Relations Commission, the Mayor’s Welcome Table initiative and the City Council. The goal of this process is to offer opportunities for the people of New Orleans to discuss the renaming of Jefferson Davis Parkway and the relocation of prominent Confederate monuments. These monuments include: the Robert E Lee statue at Lee Circle; the Jefferson Davis statue on Jefferson Davis Parkway; the PGT Beauregard equestrian statue on Esplanade Avenue at the entrance to City Park; and, the Battle of Liberty Place Monument at Iberville Street.
“This is about more than the men represented in these statues. This discussion is about whether these monuments, built to reinforce the false valor of a war fought over slavery, ever really belonged in a city as great as New Orleans whose lifeblood flows from our diversity and inclusiveness,” said Mayor Landrieu. “Our history before and after the Civil War should not be neglected, nor our identity defined by the Confederacy – our identity is much broader and richer than these symbols. As we look to our city’s tricentennial celebration in 2018, we should be a city where symbols inspire and include, not divide; and, a place a where we celebrate life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, not death, war and slavery. Supremacy may be a part of our past, but it should not be part of our future.”
Landrieu today formally asked the City Council to begin the legal process outlined in City Code Section 146-611, which governs the procedure for removal of public property structures that are deemed to be a nuisance. In addition to soliciting public comments, the Code also requires the City to receive comments and recommendations from the Human Relations Commission, the Historic District Landmarks Commission, the chief administrative officer, the City attorney, the superintendent of the New Orleans Police Department, and the director of the Department of Property Management. Landrieu also asked that the City’s Welcome Table initiative to help facilitate discussion on the issue.
Following the required hearings and receipt of recommendations, the City Council may, by ordnance, declare a monument or structure a nuisance and provide for its removal.
Landrieu also proposed renaming Jefferson Davis Parkway to Dr. Norman C. Francis Parkway, who served as president of Xaiver University for 47 years – the longest tenure of any university president in the nation. Dr. Francis attended Xavier University, and, in 1955, he became first African-American graduate of Loyola University Law School. He has served as an adviser to five U.S. presidents, eventually receiving the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2006 – the highest civilian award of the United States. In addition to also serving in the U.S. Army, Dr. Francis previously served as chairman of the Louisiana Recovery Authority and he is the recipient of 41 honorary degrees, including Harvard University, the University of Notre Dame, Johns Hopkins University and Loyola University New Orleans.
In Landrieu’s remarks to the Council, he pointed out that many groups and individuals did not have a voice when the City’s Confederate monuments were first erected in the late 19th century, and now these voices and points of view should be heard as their perspectives are important. Landrieu also said relocating the four Confederate memorials is not about the individual historical figures, but about the broader context of the monument themselves and how they fit into the city’s history and whether they inspire New Orleanians today.
“We should not erase or uproot our past, and we should remember these important historical figures and moments in the right context. But, for example, I don’t believe Gen. Robert E. Lee’s place in the history of New Orleans should be revered,” said Mayor Landrieu. “It would be better for all our children, black and white, to see symbols in prominent places in our city that make them feel proud of their city and inspire them to greatness. We should do our part to remove these symbols of supremacy from places of reverence that no longer, if ever, reflect who we are. The moral arc of the history bends as it usually does, towards justice. But it does not bend on its own. That is left to us.”
Over the past year, Landrieu has discussed with the Tricentennial Commission the symbols and monuments throughout the city as the 300th anniversary of the city approaches in 2018. On June 24, 2015, he called for public discussions to consider relocating four prominent Confederate monuments in New Orleans at the City’s one-year celebration of Welcome Table New Orleans, a multi-year initiative focused on race, reconciliation and community-building that began in 2014. Funded by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, the Welcome Table New Orleans brings residents of different racial groups and backgrounds together to build relationships that will lead to improvements throughout the city.
In the coming weeks, Landrieu and the City Council will announce more details about upcoming public hearings on this issue. A final vote by the City Council is not expected to occur until at least September 2015.
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