LAKE CHARLES, La. (AP) - A police jury in a Louisiana parish has voted to keep a Confederate monument on public grounds after hearing from residents about a motion to remove the statue.
The Calcasieu Parish Police Jury voted 10-4 on Thursday to let the South’s Defenders Monument remain where it stands on the grounds of a courthouse in Lake Charles, about 125 miles (200 kilometers) west of Baton Rouge, news outlets reported.
Dedicated in 1915, the monument honors Confederate soldiers from the area and other towns across the South, the American Press reported. Parish officials had been taking public comments since late June about what to do with the statue amid calls around the country to remove Confederate monuments many see as symbols of racism.
“We have received 945 written responses from the public during this period,” Calcasieu Parish Administrator Bryan Beam said. “Of the total responses, 878 were against relocating the monument and 67 were for relocating the monument.”
Resident Gordon Simmons told police jurors Thursday he opposed removing the statue.
“This is political insanity and the scrubbing of our history has to stop,” said Simmons, who traces his lineage to the Confederacy.
Confederate monuments have been coming down across the South since the global demonstrations against racism and police brutality sparked by the death of George Floyd in police custody in Minnesota.
Many residents at the meeting advocated for the removal of the monument, calling it a symbol that devalues people of color and recalls racial scars.
“Being a Black woman, the pain is real in my soul,” resident Lois Malveaux said.
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This story has been corrected to show that the vote was taken by a governing board in a parish, not a city.
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