City leaders talk future of war monument in Garfield Park
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Conversations across the country have continued about the removal of Civil War monuments after the violent and deadly protests in Charlottesville, Virginia last weekend.
City leaders in Indianapolis have now started a conversation to move a war monument in the city.
The Confederate Prisoner of War Monument inside Garfield Park was built back in 1912. That is about 50 years after the Civil War started.
Some community members have wanted to restore the tower to its original pristine condition but now some wanted to have it moved from the park altogether.
“Those who defend Confederate monuments often say they are about history and heritage, not racism, and to some degree that may be true. However, it is also true that, especially to the African-American community, they have always symbolized and glorified white supremacy,” said President of the City-County Council Maggie Lewis.
“This monument to confederate prisoners of war holds no historical significance to President Garfield and is a painful reminder that slaves were forced to fight for the Confederacy in order to prolong their own slavery,” said City-County Council Majority Leader Monroe Gray.
The soldiers are actually buried at Crown Hill Cemetery so that could be a potential future home for the monument.