The newly elected Democrat mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, celebrated the removal of a Confederate statue in the city, which was officially gone before noon Wednesday.
Democrat Mayor Donna Deegan, who won her mayoral bid in May, celebrated the removal of the statue in Springfield Park, formally known as Confederate Park. The monument in question, “In Memory of Our Women of the Southland,” depicts a mother with her two children at her side, looking down at a book upon her lap. It was erected in October 1915.
The Democrat mayor, who said during her time on the campaign trail that she would remove Confederate monuments, contended that she is not trying to “erase history” with the statue’s removal.
“Symbols matter,” Deegan said in a statement.
“They tell the world what we stand for and what we aspire to be. By removing the confederate monument from Springfield Park, we signal a belief in our shared humanity. That we are all created equal,” she said, failing to mention that the reality — that we are all created equal — is enshrined in the founding documents of the country that so many on the left still deem to be “racist.”
“The same flesh and bones. The same blood running through our veins. The same heart and soul. This is not in any way an attempt to erase history but to show that we’ve learned from it,” she continued.
“That when we know better, we do better by and for each other. My prayer today is for our beautiful city to continue embracing unity and bending the arc of history towards justice. Let’s keep lifting as we climb,” Deegan added:
Symbols matter. They tell the world what we stand for and what we aspire to be. By removing the confederate monument from Springfield Park, we signal a belief in our shared humanity. That we are all created equal. The same flesh and bones. The same blood running through our…
— Mayor Donna Deegan (@MayorDeegan) December 27, 2023
The $187,000 statue removal is being funded by the grant via the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and anonymous donors to the leftist organization 904WARD, which aims to put an “end to racism in Jacksonville.”
904WARD said in a statement that Confederate monuments serve as “painful reminders of a divisive past” that somehow “contribute to a climate that perpetuates inequality”:
904WARD’s Statement on the Removal of the Springfield Park Confederate Statue:
— 904WARD (@904ward) December 27, 2023
An inclusive community begins with a commitment to fostering unity, inclusivity, and social progress.
Confederate monuments, often erected during periods of racial tension and division, serve as… pic.twitter.com/9T3XCwRaBw
It remains unclear how a statue honoring women of the South, specifically, perpetuates inequality in Jacksonville. Nowhere in either statement did Deegan or the group mention the Democrat party’s historic role in perpetuating racism in the country. For example, ironically, the four portraits of former Speakers who served in the Confederacy — which former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi had removed in the summer of 2020 — were all Democrats.
The same Deegan who approved the removal of the statue has been criticized for being soft on crime — a rising issue in Jacksonville. She also supported the Black Lives Matter movement in the past. It should be noted that Jacksonville Sheriff T.K. Waters supported Republican candidate Daniel Davis in the mayoral race.
According to data from the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, 123 criminal homicides occurred in the city in 2023, with numerous cases of black-on-black crime. Meanwhile, Deegan and other leftists focus on Confederate statues.
