A new push to change Georgia law concerning Stone Mountain's Confederate monument [View all]

Source: CBS News

Updated on: March 5, 2025 / 8:58 PM EST


Georgia's Stone Mountain Park — once home to the Ku Klux Klan and the site of the largest Confederate carving in the country — has been a point of contention for years. The 3,200-acre park sees more than 4 million visitors each year, but it's best known for the large carving of Confederate President Jefferson Davis and generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson on the mountainside.

Marcus Patton, who serves on the Stone Mountain Action Coalition, says he's facing an uphill battle as his group fights for what it calls a "more inclusive park." "The thing that troubles me, because I love this place so much, is that many people refer to Stone Mountain. And what they're talking about is the Confederate aspects of it," Patton told CBS News.

SMAC is part of the latest push to tweak Georgia law by swapping out language requiring "an appropriate and suitable Confederate memorial at Stone Mountain" for a new ordinance that would educate the public about the natural history of the mountain and its environment.

The Stone Mountain Memorial Association, which is the state authorities that manages the Georgia park, has made steps to address the park's past. An $11 million "Truth Telling" center is slated to open this fall, with exhibits designed to confront what the association calls "warts" of Georgia and southern history.

Read more: https://www.cbsnews.com/news/stone-mountain-confederate-carving-law/