Move This Confederate Monument!
Update: 06/02/2020 - We have reactivated this fundraiser we began in 2017. The money we raised then is still waiting to be used to move this monument. Please help us reach our goal. It is time. Please read on for more detail.
Original Post (May 2017):
People in Madison County, Alabama want to move a Confederate monument from the courthouse lawn to somewhere more fitting, like a cemetery or museum. Our effort got a lot harder on May 25th, 2017, when the state of Alabama passed a law that fines local governments $25,000 for moving or altering any Confederate monument from the Jim Crow era.
Now we need to raise up to $25,000 to help our community pay its fine for relocating the monument.
This monument is in the center of downtown Huntsville, a forward-looking city with important ties to the federal government and two African-American colleges. Huntsville is proud to have been the first city in Alabama to integrate public schools and facilities. It’s completely unacceptable to honor “the principles which gave birth to the Confederate cause” at the seat of our local government. Less than a mile from the courthouse, there is a lovely historic cemetery with plenty of room for this relic from a dark chapter in our history.
How will the money be used?
-- First of all, every donation is a message to our local leaders that they should do the right thing and move the monument, despite the state's punitive measures.
-- Every dollar we raise will be used to reimburse the taxpayers of Madison County for the fine the county commission will incur for removing this symbol of slavery and white supremacy from the public square.
-- If our primary goal of helping to pay the fine becomes impossible (for any reason), ALL funds will be donated to the lynching memorial project being led by the Equal Justice Initiative.
