(Fox5 Atlanta) – An organization that recognizes Confederate soldiers say it plans to sue the popular Stone Mountain Park over changes to the park that the group claims are in violation of state law.
In a release, Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans says the park’s decision to move four Confederate flags that were placed near the start of the park’s trail goes against Georgia’s Monument Protection Act.
The flags were removed before Memorial Day weekend and placed in the park’s Valor Park, a smaller area closer to the base of the monument which also features a statue of a Confederate soldier and a bench. The Stone Mountain Memorial Association, the state authorities that oversee the park, made the decision over two years ago but had delayed the move while they changed the management partner for the park’s attractions.
But moving the flags from the Flag Terrace Memorial to the Valor Park was a downgrade, the Sons of Confederate Veterans argued, saying that state law requires moments be related “to a site of similar prominence, honor, visibility, and access.”
The group also criticized the Stone Mountain Memorial Association for selecting Tennessee-based Warner Museums to design new history exhibits for the park’s memorial hall. The group has previously worked on projects examining the South’s experience during the civil rights movement, such as the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church where…