The Atlanta City Council is asking Georgia Gov. Nathan Deal to consider changes at Stone Mountain, according to various media reports.
The state-owned memorial features a carving of famous Confederate leaders Stonewall Jackson, Robert E. Lee and Jefferson Davis. One city councilman thinks other famous Georgians should be added to the carving, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution; others have suggested sandblasting the carving off the side of the mountain.
“That would make Stone Mountain, I think, an enlightened place that reflects all of Georgia’s history,” the newspaper quoted Councilman Michael Julian Bond as saying. “…Georgia’s history is much greater than the four years of the Confederacy; it’s much more diverse and rich than that period which has been highly romanticized, particularly in the last 50 to 60 years.”
The city council passed a resolution asking the governor to take action. Stone Mountain does not sit within Atlanta city limits, so the city council has no real authority to mandate changes.