DUBLIN, Ga. — Dublin's city council has made the decision not to move a Confederate monument in downtown Dublin.
By a 6-1 vote, The Dublin City Council voted to keep the Confederate monument downtown. They also plan to honor a prominent Black businessman and civil rights activist, Herbert "Hub" Dudley. Supporters of the monument we talked to welcome this vote.
"We are pleased they are honoring somebody worthy of respect and we are even more pleased that the monument that honors our Confederate vet remains where it is," Vonda Morton said.
Christopher Johnson wants the monument to move. Johnson says the monument reflects a time of slavery and hate in the country.
"If they understood the history, they would understand why this is not something we want to continue to teach or be supportive of in the community," Johnson said.
Back in September, 12 members of the city's Race Relations Task Force supported a plan to move the Confederate monument out of the downtown area. Six members supported the city's current proposal, which would reimagine the plaza, naming the area Herbert "Hub" Dudley Unity Plaza. City Manager Lance Jones says one idea is erecting a life-sized bronze statue of Dudley. Right now, city leaders are still planning how the plaza would look.
"People have to be careful not to engage in what in history is known as 'presentism,' which is taking the ideas of the current era and trying to force them back on people of the past," Morton said.
"It is un-American, it is unpatriotic, and for that reason, we can do better -- collectively, we can -- and that statue does not represent that, the national nor local values of this community," Johnson said.
Jones says the city will be talking to community members and getting recommendations as part of finalizing plans.