The Good, The Bad, & The Ugly

All day I've been listening to the sweeping musical scores of Ennio Morricone, who passed away this morning at the age of 91, and it's really brought home "the good, the bad, and the ugly" of Stone Mountain. I feel like I’ve been talking about Stone Mountain here for so many years now (oh wait, I have!), and just as so much new research about the carving (it gets pretty darn damning, the deeper you dig) crowds my thoughts and external hard drives these momentous days, the revolution will just wait no longer for me to gather my thoughts. The answer is simple, friends. Human beings matter more than objects, and certainly more than bygone white supremacist propaganda. And so do natural monuments, but many have forgotten to view Stone Mountain as such.

Look, I do not pretend that the buck stops with me as to whether the Confederate carving stays or goes, but I care deeply about what happens next to reclaim the mountain ideologically and environmentally. Do I think that moss and lichen can grow fast enough in an arid environment to obscure the carving? Probably not. Do I think it will be traumatic to the mountain itself, and to many misguided and ignorant people, if the wrecking ball comes for Lee, Jackson, and Davis? Probably so! Do I like that statues of abolitionists Frederick Douglass and John Greenleaf Whitter have been toppled or vandalized? Absolutely not! And, well, maybe somewhere therein lies more of the answer, buried somewhere in that feeling. As I wrote in my last post about the monuments in Athens, GA, I believe institutionalized racism has been the greatest beneficiary of most people’s lack of knowledge of actual American history, which helps explain why so many of the objects and “trophies" definitely not worth celebrating have stayed on their pedestals for this long. And guess what, if you don't even know the origins of them, it's also easy to be indifferent about them, which is why you'll always see some sap on the TV news saying "it never bothered me." But it says a lot that even appropriate statues, which better represent our nation's higher ideals of equality and liberty and justice for all, have been yanked down, too. To me it further exemplifies how little most Americans know about American history in general (unless the statues of Douglass and Whitter honoring their respective anti-slavery efforts were torn down in calculated retaliation).

Stone Mountain Plantation, Stone Mountain, Georgia. 📸: Historic Postcard Collection, Georgia Archives

Sure, if the Confederate carving is blasted off the north face of a mountain that has been quarried to near death like the other monadnocks in the area—and on the backs of prison labor that also worked on the carving—it will definitely present more physical and environmental trauma for the mountain. But ask yourself, what is that trauma compared to the the hundreds of years of removal of Native Americans and subjugation of Black Americans in the area and the terror wrought upon the Jewish community with Leo Frank's lynching launching the Second Era Klan in 1915 on top of this mountain? Yes, I do feel mercy and pity for some of the ignorant souls that are attached to the carving, as they have been brainwashed for a long time into believing that it represents their "heritage," but it was all made of myths and lies to keep white supremacy in place. That's quite an identity crisis to deal with, and honestly, I'm not about shaming anyone for a lack of knowledge, but I do want everyone to know more. They say the truth sets you free, so for me, learning and confronting the true history, stripping the “Invisible empire” of its mask, if you will, is a greater reparation than demolition and potentially offers a valuable antidote to racism through education. It takes the power away from the symbol and gives the gift of validation through knowledge to those that have been oppressed for so long by white supremacy. Then maybe we really can start to achieve some real racial reconciliation.

"Prisoners working in rock quarry. Unidentified photograph," Georgia, ca. 1940s. 📸: Atlanta-Journal Constitution Photographic Archives

So whether the Confederate carving is removed or not, "we the people" will all benefit, after all of this time, from actual historic interpretation, so that everyone can truly understand exactly why things can no longer stay the way they are at Stone Mountain and can understand in excruciating detail what the Confederate carving stood for and why it's offensive. We also deserve a park that truly is for the people and works with the community and volunteers to take care of its citizens, nature, and wildlife. And a park that is not divorced from the village next door of the same name, and a park that doesn't charge such a steep parking fee that it's financially prohibitive to ever leave said park after adding on costs from "attractions." One day, who knows, perhaps even quality programming, with authors, musicians, and speakers, will even happen that will at long last offer some amount of healing and deeper understanding when the time is right. I have a lot of exciting ideas, as do so many others, I'm sure! For instance, what if we bring the Civil Rights statues slated for the Vine City park on the Westside to Stone Mountain. Why segregate the statues, right! Or how about an observatory at the top like Griffith Observatory in Los Angeles, since I am dreaming aloud! And hey, while we're here, I also still think the Atlanta BeltLine could connect to the mountain and utilize some of the granite from the old Excelsior Mill at its connection point, since so much of Atlanta is built of the mountain's granite. Seriously, this whole reclamation of the mountain might very well shape into something truly powerful and educational. “Where Ponce Meets Stone Mountain,” a figurative sequel of sorts, if you will, to the classic book "Where Peachtree Meets Sweet Auburn."

But yes, of course the boldest statement of all would be to remove it, and that may still be necessary if there can be nothing halfway about this. However, in the long run, because people matter more than any of this, we risk causing a greater rift and potentially dangerous resentment in some if we bury it or violently tear it away. I have seen many people posting video clips on social media of the couple painting over the Black Lives Matter street art and calling them idiots (which they are). And while it's hardly the same thing, we already know there will surely be those that will still balk at change of any kind and that will call us idiots whether the carving is sandblasted away for posterity, so we can begin anew, or if we keep it there and change the way the park presents its history, at last putting it in its proper context. Whatever happens, not everyone be pleased, this we already know. But, come on now, most people really should be able to count on Stone Mountain being a safe, peaceful place to visit that's not constantly the target of white supremacists and counter-protestors.

Again, I was writing similar posts about what to do about the carving five years ago (practically to the day!), so I deeply appreciate how complicated deciding the carving's fate is. When I started this website, I would often remind people that the first seven letters of I Am The Mountain spell "I AM THEM." And, now more than ever, we must try our best to act as ONE when deciding what happens next. WE ARE THE MOUNTAIN, so let's please proceed with love and care for all, and that includes the mountain itself! Those that conceived of this Confederate bas relief on the side of a natural monument, and the many powers-that-be that saw to its completion in the decades that followed, up until its completion in 1972, truly never considered all people or the mountain as a natural monument, which they allowed to be exploited as a stage by a white supremacist hate group for decades. So now here we are at this perfect juncture, and can learn from the past by considering everyone and hopefully making the most peace from whatever is decided. Certainly we could be done with it, and it would be so thrilling! And maybe we really should consider a symbolic destruction of a replica of the carving so that all who want to can take a good whack at and physically destroy it (quite a twist on Gutzon Borglum infamously destroying his original models of the carving)! But I'm afraid that the real long-term healing and freedom is attached to holding the responsible parties accountable for this inhumane scheme by teaching the awful truth about it and inviting those other institutions complicit in the erection of the carving to publicly apologize for their part in it and to join together to help us unravel this with courage and clarity. A sincere public apology and firm disavowal of the white supremacist activities that took place at the mountain, and not one of the hundreds of generic statements I received in my email inbox from corporations and universities assuring me they are against racism, will have such a big impact on not just all of the communities in Metro Atlanta, but perhaps on the entire world!