BENTONVILLE — A brawl between white nationalists and counterprotesters in Charlottesville, Va., over the weekend has local groups around the country calling for Confederate statues and monuments to be removed, including the statue of a Confederate soldier on the downtown square.
The statue stands in one of the city’s main tourist attractions and home-base for the annual Bentonville Film Festival, which has a foundational message rooted in diversity and inclusion. The Walmart Museum also sits directly west of the statue. Wal-Mart, which touts its dedication to diversity, is a sponsor of the film festival.
More than 100 people showed up Sunday for Ozark Indivisible’s Stand in Solidarity with Charlottesville event around the Confederate monument.
National media covering the festival have pointed out the irony of having a Confederate statue in the middle of an event that promotes diverse voices, Trevor Drinkwater, film festival co-founder, said Monday.
Most people who attend the festival, whether it’s celebrities, filmmakers or festival goers, don’t know about the statue before they come as it’s not publicized, he said. But it’s been a “topic of conversation over the last three years, for sure,” Drinkwater added. He said the rest of the city’s atmosphere and attitude toward the festival and those who are a part of it have been inclusive and welcoming.
“It’s a very inclusive town, so people give the town the benefit of the doubt with something that like,” he said of the statue. “It’s never been an issue for us, but we would love to see it not there.”
Messages seeking comment from the museum and Wal-Mart weren’t returned before deadline Monday. The company’s website describes its views on the topic.
“Walmart’s commitment to diversity and inclusion extends beyond the borders of our company and out into the communities where our associates live and work.,” according to the website. “We develop productive relationships with organizations that reflect the diversity of American society, so we can collaborate on issues that are important to our customers and neighbors.
“Our partners range from famous civil rights groups to lesser known but highly effective advocacy organizations,” it says.
The statue honors James Berry, who served as a second lieutenant in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. He also was elected the state’s 14th governor in 1882.
The James H. Berry chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy erected the statue more than a century ago, according to county records. The group was given the right to “control and occupy” the park for the purpose of maintaining the monument. The chapter was “no longer active,” and the county transferred the authority to beautify and maintain the square to the city in 1996, according to a county court order. The county retained ownership of the square under both arrangements.
George Spence, county attorney, said the statue most likely is owned by Benton County as a “donation,” but there may be some restrictions on what the county can do with it. Spence said he would have to research the question to be certain.
The statue hasn’t been a matter of much debate in Benton County government, although the subject of whether the monument is appropriate does come up from time to time.
“Every few years, whenever somebody somewhere else was protesting, people would start looking around,” Shirley Sandlin, justice of the peace for District 8, said Monday. Her district includes the square.
Sandlin, who worked in the county Assessor’s Office before serving as assessor and later as justice of the peace, said Benton County natives have tended to be “pretty possessive” about the statue when the issue is raised elsewhere. She said she wasn’t surprised to see some protesters at the square after the events in Charlottesville.
“There were moments when it came up before, with other locations moving or tearing down statues, and I always figure that one of these days it would be at our doorstep,” she said.
County Judge Barry Moehring said he’s had little public input about the statue, describing most as “casual phone calls” or email.
“I’ve probably had a thousand times more inquiries about county roads than I have the statue,” Moehring said.
He said most of the people he has spoken with are “strongly in favor” of keeping the monument on the square. He did say he had at least one lengthy conversation with a man who raised some objections.
Mayor Bob McCaslin said his office has received a number of calls in support of the statue, but isn’t sure how many. He’s never seen a formal petition to have it removed and said the city isn’t responsible for the statue.
“I’ve got a lot of things that I think are higher priority for municipal government than letting that take our attention and resources,” he said.
Monuments
The Confederate soldier statue in the Bentonville square is one of 36 Confederate monuments in Arkansas, according to USA Today, which credits the Southern Poverty Law Center with finding more than 700 Confederate monuments in 31 states and Washington, D.C.
Source: Staff report
Melissa Gute can be reached at [email protected] or on Twitter@NWAMelissa. Tom Sissom can be reached by email at [email protected] or on Twitter at @ NWATom.
The statue honors James Berry, who served as a second lieutenant in the Confederate Army during the Civil War, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture. He also was elected the state’s 14th governor in 1882.