Public Provides Input On Confederate Statue

Several members of community came to the Brandenburg Riverfront Park to provide input and guidance for local leaders who are working to provide a new home for a embattled confederate statue currently located in Louisville.

Approximately fifty people braved the sweltering heat and humidity on the scenic, historic banks of the Ohio River to offer their opinions on locating the statue to the river bank at the end of Main Street. The forum was moderated by the neutral moderator from the University of Kentucky Extension Service, who had the crowd to form small groups to discuss a series of questions which were crafted to examine the positive and negative sides of the issue.

The hour long session drew a consensus that support exists for the statue, as a piece of the local area’s history and more than likely would be received without prejudice that has fallen upon many other monuments and article of the civil war. Unity and honoring all of the fallen soldiers, who sacrificed their lives for the cause of the Confederacy or the Union. A common thought developed toward possibly using the statue as a beginning of a civil war display which would possibly have other articles added to provide more education of the periods events.

With the common ground made in favor the statue’s relocation to Brandenburg, the groups voiced concerns of outside individuals to follow media induced hype of uneducated stereotypes that lead to vandalism and other acts that would be interjected into the quiet river town. Funding to maintain the monument now and into the future along with the impact of river flooding on the monument were voiced.

All of the information will be compiled into a document that will be given to local leaders to help start the efforts if the Louisville Metro Government decides to remove the 70 foot, 5,000 pound statue from the University of Louisville campus. A delegation of local leaders will attend a meeting in Louisville on Monday (7/25) to explain why Brandenburg is the place to relocate the statue.

You may watch the video of the public forum in our “On Demand” section.