Organizer behind effort to remove Confederate statue: 'Change won't happen until the people demand change'
The Southern states that seceded and formed the Confederacy did so in the name of states' rights — the right to own slaves. Even after the Confederacy lost the Civil War and after the right to own slaves was abolished, cities such as Jackson erected statues in memory, respect and honor of the Confederacy and, consequently, what they fought for.
For years, people have said Confederate statues serve no purpose in the centers of cities or as a representation of diversity that cities embody.
The movement to remove the Confederate statue in front of the Madison County Courthouse — a symbol of justice — has garnered the support of thousands in and around Jackson-Madison County.
Its organizer Iyad Abdi took up the cause because removing the statue from its current location in front of a house of justice is the right thing to do.
“(Being in front of a courthouse) it’s incompatible with the notion of justice and our values as a community,” Abdi said. “This monument was erected in 1888 in the Jim Crow era to send a message to people of color that they were not going to receive equal justice of the law.”
Abdi, a Jackson native, is a 2016 Madison Academic High graduate and May graduate of New York University.
Citizens must engage in the political process and with community leaders to do what’s right, he said.
“If not us, then who?” Abdi said. “Oftentimes, change won’t happen until the people demand change.”
Preserving history vs. representing oppression
The monument was erected in 1888 in memory of dead Confederate soldiers from Madison County, according to Jackson Sun archives.
Built in the Jim Crow era, the monument stood for the oppression of African American people, Abdi said.
“It’s still hostile to that portion of our population,” he said.
“I think removing this monument, as we see happening across the country and all over the South, is a step toward healing and reconciliation for our communities and building a more equitable society for ourselves and future generations.”
Some cities have removed their Confederate monuments in the past few weeks as other monuments are coming down at the hands of protesters.
The statue doesn't represent the diversity of Jackson-Madison County, Abdi said.
Of Jackson’s more than 66,000 people, about 48% are white, 44% are Black or African American and 4% are Hispanic or Latino, according to a Data USA site. The school system’s demographics for its nearly 13,000 students are 58% African American, 30% white, with Hispanic/Latino, Indian and other nationalities making up 12%.
People opposing the monument’s removal in the name of historical value or supposed heritage fail to acknowledge its symbolic representation, ill values and the oppression it stood for, Abdi said.
Advocates for its removal don’t deny the history of it, he said.
But its place could be at a museum, where it can be studied as a historical artifact, Abdi said, not on a courthouse lawn.
“Put yourselves in the shoes of African American citizens," he said. "The Civil War and the Confederate cause did stand for the oppression and slavery of our Black community members.”
For Abdi, as an African American, it baffles him that it still stands, he said.
It faces north, he observes. He said that alone symbolizes being against the Union, which is now the United States.
“It’s treasonous. How can we continue to have a monument that stood for a confederation that sought to secede and fight the Union — our country, our United States that we know today?” Abdi said. “The cause that it fought for is slavery.”
The Confederacy fighting for states’ rights was to protect the institution of slavery and continue participating in slavery, he said.
“I think we need to acknowledge that ugly history and come to reckon with it,” he said.
Petition: Everyone has a hand in this moment
As of Monday, the petition to remove the Confederate statue had more than 7,000 signatures.
“We can’t stop,” Abdi said of lobbying elected officials and county representatives to act.
The ultimate goal is the statue’s removal from downtown, but the petition is about garnering support.
“It’s for everyone to know we each had a hand in shaping our city and our communities,” he said. “This is a historic moment, and we all participated in doing what is right."
Connection to Black Lives Matter movement
“It’s just not right for it to continue to be allowed to stand in 2020, especially right now with recent events across our country,” Abdi said.
“No city, community, legislative body or state can prudently choose to ignore these events. We face a moral and ethical crisis in this country.”
The Black Lives Matter movement is about more than the police killings of Black men and women and of police disproportionately targeting Black people, Abdi said of the Confederate statue removal resurfacing in the light of the movement.
The movement seeks reform.
“Although systemic reform will require a generational effort and a long time, removing this monument is a step in the right direction and something tangible that we can accomplish, as a community, right now,” he said.
Abdi was scheduled to meet with the deputy mayor Monday. Also, he and Black Lives Matter protest and rally organizer Tracy Boyd have planned events to engage the community, including:
- June 16, 9 a.m.: Remove That Statue Protest, for those in support of the statue’s removal, at the statue, 100 E. Main St.
- June 18, 4:30 p.m.: Show Up and Speak Out, the Madison County agenda review meeting at the Madison County Complex, 1981 Hollywood Drive
- June 26, 8:30 a.m.: Show Up and Speak Out, Part 2: Madison County Commission meeting at the West TN Research and Education Center, 605 Airways Blvd.
- June 26, 5 p.m.: Jackson Youth Rally: Screening of “When They See Us,” at Downtown Jackson lawn, the corner of Liberty and Main streets
“It is the time to act now, more than ever,” Abdi said.
Lasherica Thornton is The Jackson Sun's education reporter. Reach her at 731-343-9133 or by email email@example.com. Follow her on Twitter: @LashericaT.