In the wake of the South Carolina shooting on June 17th which killed 9, and after pictures emerged of the gunman posing with Confederate flags, a storm is brewing as to whether or not the much criticised flags should be removed from one of Georgia’s landmarks – Stone Mountain.
The location is synonymous with Ku Klux Klan cross burnings and the Confederacy is proudly captured in a giant sculpture. However, after activist Bree Ann Byuarium Newsome removed the Confederate flag from its pole outside the South Carolina Capitol, officials at Stone Mountain are considering what to do with their own at the site.
Shannon Byrne is one of a growing number of individuals calling for the flags to be removed. She owns a website, I Am The Mountain, which campaigns for such action to be taken. She, along with hundreds of others, has also signed a petition for the flags to be taken down. It can be read and signed via this link at moveon.org.
As to why she wants to flags removed she says:
“When flags fly it is a symbol of honor, even victory. This flag is charged with violence, hate, white supremacy. I feel ashamed that the park would fly the flag.”
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