The gubernatorial-appointed Stone Mountain Memorial Association, which oversees the popular park which includes the world’s largest bas-relief sculpture that is a memorial to Confederates who fell in battle from 1861-65, is being threatened with a lawsuit. The Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) charges that the SMMA is illegally making changes inside the park.
SCV spokesman Martin K. O’Toole said his organization detailed their concerns in a notice to the SMMA that warns of a pending lawsuit.
“They’re not obeying the law. It’s as simple as that. The law’s very clear,” O’Toole says.
Among sections of state law, he cites language that the Confederate images on Stone Mountain can never be removed, altered, concealed or obscured. OCGA 50-3-1(c) clearly says Stone Mountain “shall be preserved and protected for all time as a tribute to the bravery and heroism of the citizens of this state who suffered and died.”
The SCV notes the Confederate flags put up at the beginning of the trailhead were moved to what the group says is a less visible place, arguing that by law they should be moved to a place of similar prominence.
“When they tell you we put it there so people don’t have to see it unless they want to, that’s not similarly prominent,” O’Toole says. Furthermore, the SCV complains that the large mountain carving isn’t being maintained.
“They’ve already moved the Confederate memorabilia from Heritage Hall and they plan to turn that more or less into a Civil Rights museum, which is not what Stone Mountain Park is supposed to be under law,” O’Toole also says. “The law says it has two purposes, as a memorial to the Confederacy and as a natural resource center.”
As this is written, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association has not responded to the SCV complaints and its lawsuit threat.
