Supervisors vote to move confederate statue off courthouse lawn

LOWNDES COUNTY, Miss. (WCBI)- A divided Lowndes County Board of Supervisors agrees on a big move.

With one voice, supervisors unanimously voted to move the confederate monument from in front of the courthouse.

The statue has stood tall outside the courthouse since 1912, now it’ll be standing tall in another location.

The board voted to have the monument relocated to Friendship Cemetery.

“The winds of changes are blowing in Mississippi,” said Leroy Brooks, District 5 Supervisor. “Columbus is not our father’s town anymore. This is a new day and we’ve got to make those changes so people will feel comfortable, and I think the moving of that monument is the beginning of addressing some of those issues of the past.”

“One small step for man makes it an even giant step for mankind, I’m happy it’s gone,” said Pastor Marcus Wilson, who was in favor of seeing the monument relocated.

“We look forward to the monument being in a more suitable place,” said Trip Hairston, District 2 Supervisor.

Hairston was the first to address relocating the monument during Monday’s meeting, a decision he’s now in favor of.

However, that wasn’t the case last month when the issue was first brought up.

On June 15th, Brooks made a motion to have the statue removed.

That motion failed in a 3-2 vote.

After that vote, then board President Harry Sanders was recorded making racist remarks to a newspaper reporter.

On Monday, Sanders, Hairston, and current board president John Holliman, all changed their votes on the matter.

“I voted against moving the monument,” said Hairston. “Since that time I’ve heard from a lot of my constituents in district 2, a vast majority of them said they think it is appropriate that we move the monument to a more suitable location in friendship cemetery.”

Monday’s vote is just the first step in the process.

The county has to get clearance from the Mississippi Department of Archives and History to have the statue relocated, then they city must deed the county a piece of property at Friendship Cemetery for the statue, and lastly the county has to get bids to have the monument moved.

Columbus city leaders have already agreed to help the county with the relocation.

“It’s the city’s land, and thank you to whoever you are, the generous donor, for donating their land at friendship cemetery, but from the city’s perspective, we’re going to split the bill with the county as well as help them get it moved down to Friendship Cemetery,” said Pierre Beard, Ward 4 Columbus Councilman.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it takes as long as 60 to 90 days, hopefully not that long but you certainly want to give yourself time,” said Brooks.

For weeks, Brooks has been pleading to have the monument removed.

While he’s happy with the board’s decision, he said the monument isn’t the only thing that needs to go.

“The issue at hand is that Harry Sanders needs to resign for the good of this community,” said Brooks.

During Tuesday’s Columbus city council meeting, the board will discuss deeding the county land and helping with relocation costs.

Once Monday’s meeting ended, a crowd gathered outside the courthouse again calling for the resignation of Harry Sanders.

Sanders only spoke once during the meeting, that was to second a motion that was made by a fellow board member.

Sanders declined to give any comments after Monday’s meeting.