Lauderdale County supervisors to discuss Confederate monument removal request

MERIDIAN, Miss. (WTOK) - The Confederate monument that stands outside the Lauderdale County Courthouse has been there since 1912.

N’spire Walker says she’d like to see the monument moved to a local Confederate cemetery.

“The Confederate monuments do not represent us as a people; when they were put there, it didn’t include us as a people, and it does not represent us as a people,” said Walker.

County leaders say it cost thousands of dollars to have the monument placed at the courthouse 108 years ago. The cost to have it relocated to a Confederate cemetery was one concern that was mentioned at Monday morning’s board meeting.

“That was on the county, they’re the ones who did it back then,” said Walker. “They could be the ones to help take care of it now.”

District 1 Supervisor Jonathan Wells said the county has a responsibility from the state to maintain the monument. Supervisors will discuss the idea of relocating it next week.

“We are allowed to move them, so what the board will have to do is take in all the information, consider it and basically deem or determine if it’s the right thing to do to move it,” said Wells.

Walker said Meridian City Council members drafted a resolution asking that the monument be moved. Wells says that will also be reviewed when the board meets again.

“We’ll look at what the city wrote up in their declaration, we’ll study all that and we’ll dive into it at our next work session and really start having some conversation about her request,” said Wells.

The Mississippi state flag was removed from the courthouse last Tuesday after the state voted to change it.

Copyright 2020 WTOK. All rights reserved.