TAMPA, Fla. — Officials decided Wednesday not to move a Confederate memorial from in front of a Florida courthouse. Instead, a mural will be put behind it to display, in the words of one county leader, “the love and diversity” in the community.
The Hillsborough County Commission voted 4-3 Wednesday not to remove a statue that was erected in Tampa in 1911.
Called “Memoria In Aeterna,” it sits outside of a courthouse administrative building and depicts two Civil War soldiers next to an obelisk.
Commission chambers were packed, with several people holding signs that said, “Americans build monuments we don’t remove them!”
The monument sits in front of a county building that contains administrative offices and traffic court.
When the memorial was erected and dedicated in downtown Tampa in 1911, state attorney Herbert Phillips, said: “The South stands ready to welcome all good citizens who seek to make their homes within her borders. But the South detests and despises all, it matters not from whence they came, who, in any manner, encourages social equality with an ignorant and inferior race.”
Several speakers cited the passage — which was in a local paper over the weekend — as evidence of the statue’s racist roots.
Supporters of removing the statue said they were deeply disappointed in the idea of a mural and say it’s an indication that white supremacy still reigns.