Northwest Arkansans voice opinions about Bentonville's Confederate monument

BENTONVILLE -- The room was nearly filled to the 160-person capacity Saturday and while not everyone spoke, many sides were heard concerning the history and future of Bentonville's Confederate monument in the downtown square.

The discussion was held at the Walmart Auditorium in the Shewmaker Center for Workforce Technologies at Northwest Arkansas Community College in partnership with Compassion Fayetteville and the OMNI Center for Peace. It was moderated by Jon Comstock, a Rogers attorney and owner of Comstock Conflict Resolution Services.

Comstock opened by asking for a respectful dialogue. "This is not about anybody persuading somebody to change strongly held beliefs, opinions or views. It's about building community. It's really about hearing people say different things and being able to connect and hear what they are saying," he said.

Many spoke for moving the statue and for leaving it in the square and some offered ideas of building another statue to honor soldiers from the area who fought for the Union or to take off the word "Confederate" from the base. Most introduced themselves as residents from Bentonville or nearby.

"Ninety percent of people I talk to don't know what the history is, but they know it's an historical landmark and that it brings people together," resident Cindy Acree said. "We are making it a racist issue by connecting the dots. We've got a trend that's going around the country that is generating feeling about this statue that don't belong."

Bentonville resident John Douglas and a couple others said the statue has the potential or does deter some people, particularly black people, from moving to the area.

[EMAIL UPDATES: Get free breaking news updates and daily newsletters with top headlines delivered to your inbox]

"Despite the fact that I have seen the monument all my life and considered it part of our history, I came to realize there's people who have other opinions. I should not be inflexible," Douglas said. "Personally, I'd like the statue to stay there, but it would probably be better to move it to the Bentonville Cemetery."

There were three black people in the audience Saturday.

"This is a problem. This is a real problem," said Raven Cook, an African American history teacher. "You have to make a decision to step outside of your comfort zone and to actually have real, authentic relationships with black people that will change your view and take down the damn statue so people can actually feel like they're welcome in your space."

The three black people in the audience left before the end of the discussion, which wasn't recognized by any speaker.

Asele Mack, who was sitting by them, said after the public discussion "When people started talking about good slave owners, I praised the Lord that black people were gone by then."

The comment Mack referred to was made by Rebecca Hedges who also said the Civil War wasn't about slavery, but the oppression of the North on the South and that's what the statue symbolizes.

"They were tired of Northern oppression. There were good and bad slave owners. There were black and white slave owners," Hedges said. "Slavery was not a good thing. It was an evil thing. But I hate the divisiveness today."

Lawyer Jason Hendren acted as the expert panel presenter and provided a brief history of the monument, which was erected in 1908, more than 50 years after the Civil War. He grew up in the Bentonville area and is a member of the Historic Arkansas Museum Board. He said the issue isn't why the Civil War was fought, but about the statue specifically.

He later addressed one specific point of historical contention concerning the statue, which was whether the statue is of James Henderson Berry, whose name is inscribed on the granite base.

Berry was a Confederate officer. He also was a lawyer in Bentonville, an Arkansas legislator, a speaker of the Arkansas house and a circuit judge for the 4th Judicial District before being elected the state's 14th governor, taking office in 1883. He followed his time as governor with a 22-year stint as a U.S. senator, from 1885 to 1907, according to the Encyclopedia of Arkansas History and Culture.

Some of the people who spoke at Saturday's forum cited his historical prominence to the area and the state as a reason to leave the statue in the square.

However, the statue isn't of Berry.

It's of a generic bearded soldier, according to the 1996 National Register of Historical Places registration form for the monument.

The Arkansas United Daughters of the Confederacy sponsored the monument and Berry donated most of the money. The daughters added a plaque to the memorial with an inscription honoring Berry on Jan. 30, 1914, the one-year anniversary of his death, according to the registration form.

Kelly Mulhollan said he's the great-great-grandson of Berry and the statue isn't a depiction of Berry, who lost a leg during the Battle of Corinth, according to the encyclopedia entry. He also said after some soul searching and research he believes the statue should be moved to Pea Ridge Battlefield Park.

"It may be hard to imagine the square without the old statue, but it is not impossible," Mulhollan said, reading from a prepared statement. "This is an opportunity for the city of Bentonville to turn a new page. We are not erasing history, we are making history."

The monument was one of at least 12 Confederate memorials erected by the Arkansas United Daughters of the Confederacy between 1899 and 1915 and these were part of the mass-produced statues across the country at the time. Bentonville's was manufactured in Barre, Vt., according to the book Bentonville by Monte Harris.

Fruit Loop Ash with the Brotherhood of the Southern Cross, who asked his first name not be used, said "We stand up of Confederates of all colors. The South lost and that's the way it is. But somebody has to stand for them. The story is told by the winning side. People here like me, we stand up for the fallen Confederate veterans and make sure their history is remembered."

Octavio Sanchez, Ward 4 Bentonville council member, said people should give their attention to more important things than the statue, but also suggested including something in the square from the Union side.

Cindy Sigmon said toward the end of the discussion both Comstock and Hendren seemed to have a slanted view toward the side of removing the statue. Comstock said he would welcome others to be on a panel for another discussion.

"When you bury history, you're doomed to repeat it," Sigmon said. "This should be concerning people on both sides of the aisle. When does this snowball stop? Thomas Jefferson owned slaves. At the Capitol, we have a statue of him. Are we going to pull that down? Washington owned slaves."

There was no poll or show of hands to determine how many were at the event to represent which side.

Residents have started many online petitions dealing with the statue on change.org and other websites. Most of the petitions have just a handful of supporters, but "Keep the James H. Berry Monument in Downtown Bentonville, Arkansas" had 14,587 supporters as of midday Saturday. "Move the Confederate Monument in Downtown Bentonville to a more appropriate location," a petition by Ozark Indivisible, had 4,856 supporters as of midday Saturday.

It's unclear when a decision will be reached, but Hendren said Benton County owns the land the monument is on and has the authority to leave or remove it.

NW News on 09/10/2017