photo by Dennis Norwood
The Dalton City Council had not included the topic of the city’s statue of Confederate General Joseph Johnston on its agenda Monday evening, yet ended up spending the first one hour and 55 minutes of its almost two and one half hour meeting discussing that very issue, with both sides well represented.
Over 20 residents of Dalton, Whitfield County and surrounding communities spoke to both sides of the controversy surrounding the statue.
The speakers represented the majority of the area’s population: blacks, whites and Hispanics all addressed the issue with varying responses.
Savannah Thomas spoke first, saying she wanted the statue removed. She presented a petition to the council with over 5,500 signatures calling for its removal. There is also a competing petition to keep the monument with a like number of signatures.
Ms. Thomas’ comments were that the statue was in support of Jim Crow laws and the Ku Klux Klan and its original intent was to warn off black visitors to the city.
The statue was erected in 1912 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and is still owned by that group. This past week the group has said they are agreeable to moving the statue if funds can be raised. The Dalton city attorney has said that the city has no obligation in the matter.
From Republican candidate for U.S. Congress Marjorie Greene to Pastor David Thomas each remaining person spoke with emotion in representing their viewpoints.
Miss Greene said she supports keeping the statue in place. She said, “As a mom I want to always be able to point to a statue and talk about history with my children. Good, bad, embarrassing or something I wish had not happened.”
She pointed out that the nation is divided and "we shouldn’t be," she continued, “We should be working together and not trying to take down our history, but use it as teachable moments.”
Pastor Thomas spoke to what the General Johnston statue symbolized for the black community. He said, “It represents misery, suffering, destruction and death.” He asked, “What other country glorifies an enemy it fought against?”
He concluded that, “Statues are not history books. They don’t teach history.”
Many that addressed the council said Johnston had been a traitor to the United States, taking up arms against his former country.
Others, including Nick Voiles, pointed out that Johnston had defended Dalton from being burned and pillaged during Union General William T. Sherman’s “March to the Sea” in the concluding months of the war.
An interesting note from history is that later in his life, General Johnston and Sherman had become fast friends and remained so for the rest of their lives. Johnston caught his death of cold while standing bare-headed as an honorary pall bearer at Sherman’s funeral in February 1891.
Mr. Voiles stated, “We are in dire straits right now. It was evident in the license plates on cars at Monday’s protest that outside forces are moving to incite us.”
“Where’s the stopping point?” he asked, “I can’t see the importance of tearing down a statue. The history is still going to be there.” He went on to challenge the city council to “have the moral courage to end this right here. We have other options. It’s never enough, where does it stop?”
He concluded by saying, “Will you yield to this brief moment of history?”
Rashun Mack, a Dalton native, now residing in Atlanta, said he represented six generations of Whitfield County family, many pf whom were slaves.
Mr. Mack pointed out that, “To me, the statue has always been a symbol of oppression.” He went on to say he would like to bring an EJI monument representing incidents of lynching to Dalton, but had been discouraged in the past. “There’s a lot of hate here, a lot of unspoken hate,” he said.
“I was here (at the protest) on Monday night,” said Rod Miller, “and observed agitators screaming and yelling obscenities, including “F’ the president. It was appalling and disgusting.” He asked the council to not pander to radicals.
On the other hand, Tyler Martin said he observed comments being made by both sides and that social media attacks went both ways. He commented, “With opinions exposed to the media, the people should get a say in what happens to the statue.”
An idea that brought agreement from the Sons of Confederate Veterans was made by Ann Whitecotton Piscatelli. Her idea was to leave the statue where it is at the corner of Crawford and Hamilton Streets and turn the entire block into a statue park.
She stated, “Cherokee Indians, blacks and Hispanics could be represented as a total representation of Dalton’s heritage.” “We have to stop losing our history,” she finished.
Wendell Bruce, Brigade Commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which he pointed out is nothing more than a historical preservation group, exclaimed that the previous proposal would represent everybody in the park. He also said, “Let Dalton solve Dalton’s problems,” alluding to the alleged outside interference.
Matt Hickman, a teacher, stated, “The statue is there to justify Jim Crow”. While Mary Ann West, the last speaker of the evening, said, “We have to look at our history the way it is, or it will only be repeated. Taking that statue down is one more ding in our Constitution."