Activists don’t want Confederate monument to stay on the Square

DeKalb commissioners plan to discuss whether the best option for a controversial Confederate monument is to move it to a new spot on Decatur Square.

That would keep it in the center of town near the old and new courthouses and MARTA station, but with room to add context about its origin and impact.

Commissioner Jeff Rader, the presiding officer, said keeping the monument on the square was put on the table because there has been so much difficulty finding it a new home somewhere else.

“We haven’t been able to really identify anybody that wants it in their neighborhood,” he said.

A coalition of activist groups doesn’t like this idea and has planned a protest rally for Saturday. They say the best option is to find county land somewhere else and move the 30-foot obelisk to a place that isn’t so prominent.

“So much of the issue with this monument is its location on the courthouse square,” said Sara Patenaude, co-founder of protest sponsor Hate Free Decatur.

The #OfftheSquare rally is scheduled for 3 p.m. on Decatur Square. The coalition also includes the Beacon Hill and DeKalb chapters of the NAACP and Sankofa Church.

A subcommittee of the DeKalb Board of Commissioner will discuss the monument Tuesday. Commissioner Mereda Davis Johnson has proposed a task force to continue researching options and costs for its relocation, which the activist coalition supports.

CONTRIBUTED BY REBECCA BREYER Protesters rally last year against the Confederate monument in Decatur Square. Hate Free Decatur has organized another protest today of plans to keep it on the square.