Confederate symbols debate focuses on Hollywood
HOLLYWOOD – As Confederate monuments fall from South Carolina to New Orleans, the debate over whether Civil War-era symbols should stay or go has taken on new urgency in Hollywood.
For two years a battle has been raging over streets named for Confederate war generals, including Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first grand wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
Activists say they plan to protest outside City Hall today, inspired by recent victories in New Orleans and Orlando, where Confederate monuments have been removed from the public square.
Rudy Jean-Bart, an assistant history professor at Broward College, says he’s rooting for the activists.
“Forrest Street goes through a predominantly black neighborhood,” Jean-Bart said. “Children have to play ona street that was named after the first grand wizard of an organization that terrorized the black community.”
But others argue the symbols — whether statues, flags or street signs — pay homage to history and should be left alone.
“We are not racists,” said Hollywood resident Brian Turner, who hopes the street names stay. “We are not white supremacists. We have no association with the KKK, but we are defenders of Confederate heritage. We’re not about hate. We’re about heritage.”
The public outcry over Confederate symbols took hold nationwide in June 2015 after a white supremacist massacred nine churchgoers in Charleston. Photos later surfaced of the gunman posing with the Confederate battle flag.
The following month, South Carolina removed the rebel flag from its capitol, ending a decadesdebate.
Soon after, Georgia and Virginia ordered an end to the use
of specialty license plates that featured the Confederate flag. Battles over Confederate monuments sprang up in cities throughout the nation, including Mississippi, New Orleans, Baltimore and Louisville.
In recent weeks, New Orleans removed four Confederate monuments from public landmarks, including statues of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and P.G.T. Beauregard. Workers dismantling the statues donned masks and bulletproof vests after getting death threats from Confederate sympathizers.
On Tuesday, Orlando moved a Confederate statue known as “Johnny Reb” from its perch at Lake Eola Park to a private cemetery. The park had been home to the memorial for 100 years.
In Tampa, political leaders are calling for the removal of a Confederate monument that stands outside the old county courthouse. Officials are expected to debate the matter today.
Last year, Florida legislators agreed that a statue of a Confederate general should not represent the Sunshine State at the U.S. Capitol in Washington. But the monument to Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith still stands after political debate erupted over which famous Floridian to honor instead.
The controversy over Confederate monuments is not new, said Charles Zelden, a political science professor at Nova Southeastern University.
“We’ve been fighting over what these things symbolize since before the Civil War,” he said. “You have white Southerners who feel their culture is under attack. And on the other side, you have people who think the symbols represent inequality and the defense of slavery.”
Benjamin Israel, an African-American and Orthodox Jew, tried to get Forrest Street renamed more than a decade ago and took up the cause again two years ago after vandals painted over streets named for Forrest, Robert E. Lee and John BellHood.
Israel has made plea after plea at commission meetings, to no avail. But nowhe has help from community activists and the Anti-Defamation League, which sent a letter to Hollywood urging the city to rename all three streets.
“There’s a movement all over the country,” Israel said. “It just hasn’t happened here.”
Hollywood Mayor Josh Levy says he’d also like to see the streets honoring Confederate generals renamed. But it’s not easy.
At least five commissioners on Hollywood’s seven-member board would need to back the plan and so far only three do. The reluctant commissioners say some residents don’t want the streets renamed due to the inconvenience that comes with a change of address.
“Sometimes these social movements take decades to evolve,” Levy said. “And I think that’s what we’re seeing happen with the Confederate monuments. Sometimes these movements take time to resonate.”