On Friday, lawmakers in Alabama passed a measure to protect Confederate monuments, names, and other historic memorials that liberals want to erase from history as a result of the tragic church shooting in South Carolina.
The bill “would prohibit the relocation, removal, alteration, renaming, or other disturbance of any architecturally significant building, memorial building, memorial street, or monument” that has stood on public property for 40 or more years, the bill says.
According to the Associated Press:
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African-American lawmakers opposed the bill at every step of the legislative process, saying argued that solidifies a shameful legacy of slavery.
“You say we are protecting history. We are not protecting history. We are protecting monuments that represent oppression to a large part of the people in the state of Alabama,” said Sen. Hank Sanders, an African-American Democrat from Selma.
Supporters argued that the measure should protect all kinds of history — not just Confederate symbols.
Sen. Gerald Allen, the bill’s Republican sponsor, criticized what he called a “wave of political correctness” wiping out monuments to people he said were historically significant even if they had their personal flaws.
The bill also applies to schools named to memorialize historic figures, the AP said.
The report adds:
Alabama Gov. Kay Ivey added an amendment, which lawmakers approved, to clarify that schools could change locations and do renovations, but not change names. The amendment came after lawmakers raised concerns that schools, which are often named for people, could not do renovations or relocate under the bill’s directive.
“Birmingham’s park board has approved a resolution to remove a 52-foot-tall Confederate monument in a downtown park in 2015, prompting a legal challenge from a Southern heritage organization,” the AP reported.
“Are you good with the sanitizing of history as we are seeing in New Orleans?” asked Rep. Mack Butler in response to those now working to remove Confederate symbols.
The insidious nature of this brand of whitewashing became evident in 2015 when the Memphis, Tenn., city council voted to dig up the remains not only of Confederate Civil War General Nathan Bedford Forrest from a local cemetery but those of the man’s wife, who was buried alongside him.
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