Just like that, the
Stymied by state rules in removing the statues, the City Council sold the parks for a token amount to a private entity which immediately moved to remove the statues and put them in storage.
The Sons of the Confederacy are NOT happy.
Mayor Jim Strickland said on Twitter:
It’s important to know why we’re here: The Forrest statue was placed in 1904, as Jim Crow segregation laws were enacted. The Davis statue was placed in 1964, as the Civil Rights Movement changed our country.
PS: In answer to reader questions I can add that the nonprofit that bought the parks was formed recently, apparently for this purpose, and a press conference is set today. The Commercial Appeal reported:
The nonprofit will maintain the parks and, because of conditions of the contract, will not be able to operate the parks as anything but parks.
A lawsuit by Confederate forces is expected.
The mayor has said it was important for the city to act to get the monuments removed before the observance in the city in April of the 50th anniversary of the assassination of civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr.
