Civil rights groups: Prevent King monument at Stone Mountain

A proposed tribute to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. atop Stone Mountain has made unlikely allies of civil rights organizations and members of a Confederate heritage group.

The plan is to include the words from Dr. King’s “I Have a Dream” speech – “Let Freedom Ring from Stone Mountain of Georgia”.

The Civil Rights leaders said Governor Deal was receptive to their concerns, but he did not plan the memorial.

And while the King Estate, which controls King’s intellectual property, has been silent on the matter so far, Steele said they have not reached out to the King siblings privately either. Lawmakers designated it a Confederate memorial and prevented changes to the carving.

The heads of the DeKalb and Atlanta chapters of the NAACP also participated in the meeting.

The group asked for the meeting after reports earlier this week that the Stone Mountain Memorial Association wants to put a replica of the liberty bell atop Stone Mountain and call it the “Freedom Bell”. The civil rights groups said they received no promises from Deal.

The June massacre of nine worshippers at a South Carolina church sparked discussions nationwide about Confederate symbols. The 90-foot (27 m) relief sculpture honors Confederate President Jefferson Davis, General Robert E. Lee and General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson – all leaders of the secessionist Southern states during the Civil War of 1861-1865. “And he understands that no aspect of Dr. King being integrated with the Confederacy would have ever happened through the civil rights community”. The objects become a chance to educate, rather than celebrate the Confederacy, she said. “It’s not the memorial he deserves, and it takes away from the true conversation about addressing these symbols”.