Demonstrators demand removal of Confederate symbol in Decatur

DECATUR, Ga. - An organization continued its fight to remove a cannon from Downtown Decatur Saturday.

Leaders of the Beacon Hill Black Alliance for Human Rights said the cannon is a Confederate symbol and are pushing for city and county leaders to make a change.

"It’s a demand to remove yet another symbol of white supremacy," Organization Co-Chair Fonta High said.

Over a dozen people gathered Saturday on Decatur Square to continue their call for the removal of the cannon.

The cannon was placed on the square in 1906 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and remains as a symbol of the Creek Indian War of 1836.

"I see war. I see hatred. I see bloodshed and I see a group of innocent people that has been removed from this land in which it belongs," High said when asked what goes through her mind when she sees the cannon.

So what happens next?

"The City of Decatur has written a resolution so the next steps is for us to ask Dekalb County Commissioners to draft a resolution to move forward with the removal," High explained.

This isn’t the first time a movement like this has happened in Decatur.

In June of 2020 crews removed a confederate monument outside the historic DeKalb County Courthouse.

A judge ordered the monument, which was erected in 1908 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a public nuisance and ordered it’s removal.

Students from Decatur High School also joined in on the fight.

"This cannon remains undetected from a lot of people and walked by. We have to do a lot of educating to the community of why it’s dangerous to just let it sit here," Senior Koan Roy-Meighoo.

"This is a place of love and support. We have showed up on so many occasions to take hate away from here and we have to do it again with this cannon," Genesis Reddicks said.

DeKalb County is responsible for the cannon because it is located on county property.

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