# MLK monument on Stone Mountain: Yea, Nay or Eh? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 14, 2015, 2:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633 "2015-10-14T14:58:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/left_hand_of_dorkness/32/7156_2.png) [@Left\_Hand\_of\_Dorkness](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Left_Hand_of_Dorkness)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 8:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/61 "2015-10-15T20:03:46Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Who lived 150 years ago that deserves a present-day memorial? > > And what was that person’s position on LGBT rights? Not sure who you’re thinking of that’s analogous on this issue–to be analogous, you’d have to be talking about glorifying the leaders of a bloody war fought for the specific purpose of maintaining the legality of brutalizing gay people. A person might reasonably support the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial, despite both men’s ownership of slaves, while still thinking the Stone Mountain display is awful, since it’s only the last monument erected specifically to honor those whose fame is predicated on their support of slavery. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 9:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/62 "2015-10-15T21:03:36Z")
To be clear, _Truths of History_, mentioned above, was published in 1920. I doubt anyone is using it as a textbook today. > [@DrDeth](#): > > Other Big Lies- that the Emancipation Proclamation didnt free any slaves. The Proclamation was [political wizardry](http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/emancipation-150/10-facts.html), certainly playing a role in moving the United States toward both victory over the Confederacy, and eventual abolition. But no slaves went free upon its issuance. You might want to read Loewen a little further, BTW. Elsewhere he makes the points that the North did not go to war to end slavery, and had no great interest in black rights, before or after. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 9:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/63 "2015-10-15T21:29:56Z")
> [@Peremensoe](#): > > The Proclamation was [political wizardry](http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/emancipation-150/10-facts.html), certainly playing a role in moving the United States toward both victory over the Confederacy, and eventual abolition. But no slaves went free upon its issuance. > You might want to read Loewen a little further, BTW. Elsewhere he makes the points that the North did not go to war to end slavery, and had no great interest in black rights, before or after. 1. False. wiki: _Around 20,000 to 50,000 slaves in regions where rebellion had already been subdued were immediately emancipated._ 2. That’s true, but that not what I claimed. The South seceded due to _slavery_. Not states rights. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/64 "2015-10-15T21:43:50Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > If your viewpoint is that no piece of art should be allowed to remain unless it presents an accurate and unbiased view of history, I suggest you lay in an awful lot of pens and envelopes. You have a hell of a lot of angry letters to write. I think the viewpoint being expressed here is “no monument should remain, if it’s eulogizing an act of inhuman cruelty and intolerance.” Sandblasting the carving off of Stone Mountain isn’t erasing history, unless we make an effort to remove any mention of Stone Mountain from books and photos and other historical media. We should never forget any of our history, but we can also stop honoring the parts we recognize as immoral, without forgetting about them. Nobody is going to forget that slavery ever happened if Stone Mountain isn’t there to remind them. And nobody is going to forget that Stone Mountain was where the Klan was reformed, even if the Klan fan-art is scrubbed from its side. I’m also not too keen on the idea that, just because someone throws up a statue somewhere, every succeeding generation is obliged to keep it there, because “history,” regardless of what the statue represents or how well its executed. ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 9:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/65 "2015-10-15T21:51:22Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > 1. False. wiki: _Around 20,000 to 50,000 slaves in regions where rebellion had already been subdued were immediately emancipated._ Hm. Perhaps I was wrong (along with my black history professor in the '90s). I’ll have to track down some of those references. I knew that large areas under Union Army control (as well as the whole of unseceded slave states) were excluded from implementation, as the article says; clearly the objective was not _to free slaves_ as expeditiously as possible. But it aldo says there was immediate implementation here and there. My other point had to do with your references to a “handful of racists”… seemingly implying racism was not pervasive in the United States, North and South, in the early 20th century. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/66 "2015-10-15T22:02:36Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > “no monument should remain, if it’s eulogizing an act of inhuman cruelty and intolerance.” So we should bulldoze, say, the aztec pyramids? They are \*\*literal \*\*monuments to inhuman cruelty. Hell, take your pick of pyramid. Early Pharoahs were buried with their servants. Look, I’m not defending the Confederacy here. I love the idea of adding a fat memorial to MLK right on top of the damned mountain and making the whole park a teaching moment. Distasteful as it is, the Civil War and its fallout are part of our shared American heritage. You can only destroy a historical artifact one time, and then it’s gone forever. ---
**Author:** ![Sampiro](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/2acd7d/32.png) [@Sampiro](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sampiro)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 10:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/67 "2015-10-15T22:05:41Z")
> [@Bricker](#): > > Who lived 150 years ago that deserves a present-day memorial? > > And what was that person’s position on LGBT rights? Walt Whitman, and he was all up in 'em. Became a nurse during the Civil War, but mainly because he already had the uniform and experience getting young men to roll over. But he was kind of a chauvinist though. Plus he looked a lot like Alec Baldwin, who’s a nut, so, next. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 11:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/68 "2015-10-15T23:07:17Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > So we should bulldoze, say, the aztec pyramids? They are \*\*literal \*\*monuments to inhuman cruelty. Hell, take your pick of pyramid. Early Pharoahs were buried with their servants. I’d say they get a pass from their iniquity, on the grounds of their antiquity. The Stone Mountain carving was finished in 1973. It’s barely older than I am. Since you get to compare Stone Mountain to the pyramids, I suppose I get to make an equally ridiculous comparison in the opposite direction: if someone spray painted, “Fuck the Niggers” on the side of Stone Mountain, we could wash that shit off, right? Even though it, as much as the carving, is a product of our history? Even if it’s been there for forty years? Or a hundred? At what point does tasteless, poorly executed trash become something we’re required to save for ever and ever? > [@](#): > > Look, I’m not defending the Confederacy here. I love the idea of adding a fat memorial to MLK right on top of the damned mountain and making the whole park a teaching moment. Teaching what, exactly? The insufficiency of token gestures? > [@](#): > > Distasteful as it is, the Civil War and its fallout are part of our shared American heritage. You can only destroy a historical artifact one time, and then it’s gone forever. And if Stone Mountain were destroyed, what would we lose, exactly? Would people forget about the Civil War? No. The Klan? No. Opposition to the Civil Rights movement? No. The history of racist violence and oppression against our black citizens? No. If anything is going to damage our collective memory of those events, it’s keeping Stone Mountain as it is. A thousand years from now, people are going to look at that mountain, and they’re not going to think, “It’s a good think we preserved the history of these people’s traitorous actions.” They’re going to think, “Those guys must have done something _really_ amazing to be honored on the side of that mountain like that.” Jackhammer that shit off. We can keep the memories of our various national shames alive in history books. We don’t need to permanently emblazon them on our landscape. ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_Bravo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_bravo/32/493_2.png) [@Johnny\_Bravo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_Bravo)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2015, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/69 "2015-10-15T23:38:57Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Even if it’s been there for forty years? Or a hundred? At what point does tasteless, poorly executed trash become something we’re required to save for ever and ever? You tell me: you’re the one who says the Aztec pyramids get a pass only by virtue of their age. What’s the cutoff? If you’re asking “at what point does something contemporary become something historical?” I don’t have an answer for you. I doubt anybody has an answer to that particular question. > [@Miller](#): > > Teaching what, exactly? The insufficiency of token gestures? I’m more inclined to consider it the triumph of love over hate and a symbol of progress. > [@Miller](#): > > They’re going to think, “Those guys must have done something _really_ amazing to be honored on the side of that mountain like that.” C’mon, that’s silly. No more than we think the Aztec priests who murdered countless innocent people on top of those pyramids were a bunch of chill dudes. The future is going to have historians and archaeologists just like we do today. > [@Miller](#): > > Jackhammer that shit off. We can keep the memories of our various national shames alive in history books. It sounds like you’re contending that we should destroy all physical evidence of our various national shames and leave them to the history books, but I can’t believe you’re seriously proposing that. ---
**Author:** ![Miller](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/miller/32/481_2.png) [@Miller](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Miller)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/70 "2015-10-16T00:34:58Z")
> [@Johnny\_Bravo](#): > > You tell me: you’re the one who says the Aztec pyramids get a pass only by virtue of their age. What’s the cutoff? I don’t know, but I’m pretty sure it’s got to be bigger than “less than half a century.” > [@](#): > > If you’re asking “at what point does something contemporary become something historical?” I don’t have an answer for you. I doubt anybody has an answer to that particular question. But you at least acknowledge that there is a point, right? If Stone Mountain had just been carved yesterday, it wouldn’t be an “important part of our heritage,” it would just be some white trash vandalism. And, you know, it’s not like we’re not still producing plenty of that as it is. > [@](#): > > C’mon, that’s silly. No more than we think the Aztec priests who murdered countless innocent people on top of those pyramids were a bunch of chill dudes. The future is going to have historians and archaeologists just like we do today. We’ll still have historians and archaeologists? Great! Why do we need that mountain again, then? I thought the problem was that tearing it down would mean we would forget about all that stuff? > [@](#): > > It sounds like you’re contending that we should destroy all physical evidence of our various national shames and leave them to the history books, but I can’t believe you’re seriously proposing that. I’m glad you don’t believe that, because it’s a ridiculous and unsupportable interpretation of what I’ve written. Keep the slave collars. Keep the ledgers where they recorded people who were bought and sold. Keep the slave quarters on the plantations. Keep the battlegrounds, and the antique flags, and the uniforms, and the pro-secession broadsides, and the racist consumer goods, and all that other shit, because that’s the true story of race in this country. Put it all in a museum, so we never forget about it. Stone Mountain, though? That’s not a true story of our history. That’s a lie: an attempt to wash away the blood stains on our hands by pretending that these were principled men who fought for a good cause. They weren’t, and history is not served by maintaining the lies that tried to paint them that way. We should remember that there were people tried to lie about it: that’s not something we should forget. But letting their lie stand, eternally, carved into the very bones of our nation? Nah, fuck that. Somebody get out a belt sander a fix that shit. ---
**Author:** ![Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slow_moving_vehicle/32/291_2.png) [@Slow\_Moving\_Vehicle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Slow_Moving_Vehicle)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/71 "2015-10-16T01:34:57Z")
> [@DinoR](#): > > I am in the brilliant idea camp. Let’s jump straight into Godwinizing the thread to explain why. > > I’ve been to the Nazi Party Rally Ground in Nuremberg. While there I toured the museum at the Documentation Center (re-purposed from the unfinished Congress Hall for the party) that’s dedicated to studying National Socialism. I’ve stood at the podium in Zeppelin Field where Hitler addressed the National Socialist rally captured on film in Triumph of The Will. Germany didn’t erase these very key sites to the history of National Socialism. Germany preserved them and told the full story so people wouldn’t forget. > > Many seem to want to take a different path in the US and plaster over the ugliness of components of our history. Razing history doesn’t help us learn or grow from it as time goes on. Stone Mountain’s history is what it is. That includes both the close affiliation with the KKK and a very specific mention by Doctor King in an iconic speech. We should embrace telling all of that history. The counterpoint between KKK links and MLk’s speech make it an awesome site for doing just that. Simply erecting a bell tower doesn’t get us to the objective of telling the full story. It’s a start. A bell literally ringing out from Stone Mountain is a pretty brilliant start IMO. Even if it’s as far as we ever go that counterpoint is more valuable than trying to erase the figures carved there. > > “…let freedom ring from the Stone Mountain of Georgia.” The King speech association never occurred to me before now, but I agree - it’s great symbolism. Put up the bell tower on top of Stonewall and Jeff, and let Dr. King’s dream ring out every day! But as far as sandblasting the carving, or chipping it out, or whatever, I agree with **Sampiro** : > [@Sampiro](#): > > Georgia has way too many concerns to dedicate money to blasting their faces off a mountain or adding a new face to it. A couple of years ago they became the only state in the union to close their archives due to budgetary reasons, and if you really wanted to help Atlantans you’d make MARTA run efficiently. If you really wanted to do something to combat racism in Georgia, fund our disgracefully strapped public defender program. > [@Miller](#): > > Nah, fuck that. Somebody get out a belt sander a fix that shit. Knock yourself out. Just don’t expect _me_ to pay for it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/72 "2015-10-16T05:16:36Z")
> [@Miller](#): > > Stone Mountain, though? That’s not a true story of our history. That’s a lie: an attempt to wash away the blood stains on our hands by pretending that these were principled men who fought for a good cause. They weren’t, and history is not served by maintaining the lies that tried to paint them that way. We should remember that there were people tried to lie about it: that’s not something we should forget. But letting their lie stand, eternally, carved into the very bones of our nation? > > Nah, fuck that. Somebody get out a belt sander a fix that shit. I agree, but dynamite seems better. ---
**Author:** ![ralph124c](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8797f3/32.png) [@ralph124c](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ralph124c)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 5:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/73 "2015-10-16T05:47:35Z")
Have they dug up Nathan Bedford Forrest yet? ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 1:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/74 "2015-10-16T13:08:07Z")
> [@ralph124c](#): > > Have they dug up Nathan Bedford Forrest yet? Well, they have discussed removing a statue of the Klan leader from the Tennessee state capitol. Progress! ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/75 "2015-10-16T13:55:40Z")
> [@lost4life](#): > > Well, they have discussed removing a statue of the Klan leader from the Tennessee state capitol. Progress! To be honest, if they removed THIS statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest > **[nathan bedford forrest statue - Bing](http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=nathan%2Bbedford%2Bforrest%2Bstatue&view=detailv2&qpvt=nathan%2Bbedford%2Bforrest%2Bstatue&id=7501ECD9713073D7A3813347FF5BF321B873F41D&selectedIndex=9&ccid=m2Wuija2&simid=608005793198967120&thid=OIP.M9b65ae8a36b698a5049cb7142e3e3ff9o0&ajaxhist=0)** > > Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you. I think a lot of people would be happy, regardless of their political leanings, or how they felt about the man. To be clear, I don’t think this is the one at the capital, but sits on private land. Which is probably why it’s still there. Maybe they can arrange a date for it with this statue of Lucille Ball > **[lucille ball statue jamestown - Bing](http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=lucille%2Bball%2Bstatue%2Bjamestown&view=detailv2&&id=16C8B57A3B488B2DD3744BCA7A19D9EED646E229&selectedIndex=2&ccid=xd1PclHy&simid=608038151473598191&thid=OIP.Mc5dd4f7251f25c91974f5e7a039d3aa2o0&ajaxhist=0)** > > Intelligent search from Bing makes it easier to quickly find what you’re looking for and rewards you. and they can go off and have ugly statue kids. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/76 "2015-10-16T14:16:48Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > I agree, but dynamite seems better. Not enough dynamite. Nukes. Hell, Georgia could make millions just by renting out pickaxes by the hour to tourists. ---
**Author:** ![lost4life](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c4cdca/32.png) [@lost4life](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lost4life)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 2:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/77 "2015-10-16T14:51:58Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > To be honest, if they removed THIS statue of Nathan Bedford Forrest > [nathan bedford forrest statue - Search](http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=nathan+bedford+forrest+statue&view=detailv2&qpvt=nathan+bedford+forrest+statue&id=7501ECD9713073D7A3813347FF5BF321B873F41D&selectedIndex=9&ccid=m2Wuija2&simid=608005793198967120&thid=OIP.M9b65ae8a36b698a5049cb7142e3e3ff9o0&ajaxhist=0) > I think a lot of people would be happy, regardless of their political leanings, or how they felt about the man. > > To be clear, I don’t think this is the one at the capital, but sits on private land. Which is probably why it’s still there. > Maybe they can arrange a date for it with this statue of Lucille Ball > > [lucille ball statue jamestown - Search](http://www.bing.com/images/search?q=lucille+ball+statue+jamestown&view=detailv2&&id=16C8B57A3B488B2DD3744BCA7A19D9EED646E229&selectedIndex=2&ccid=xd1PclHy&simid=608038151473598191&thid=OIP.Mc5dd4f7251f25c91974f5e7a039d3aa2o0&ajaxhist=0) > > and they can go off and have ugly statue kids. The one in the Capitol is actually a bust. Literally. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/78 "2015-10-16T15:01:49Z")
> [@WOOKINPANUB](#): > > So are you saying that no account of the past is accurate? That nothing that is taught in school is fact based? I admitted that not everyone agrees on all aspects of our history but as it stands the widely accepted story is that the Union won, slavery was abolished, and mssrs Jackson, Lee and Davis are not regarded as heroes by\* the majority\*. It seems that those things that we _have_agreed upon are recorded and widely available and I suspect people aren’t getting most of their education from a tourist attraction. No, I’m saying that there are plenty of events that are being subject to divergent present-day iunterpretations, and that people have fought heavily over that interpretation. There are plenty of examples, and not just in Loewen’s book. An awful lot of the past is definitely NOT “agreed upon history” People are still violently disagreeing about it. And, for many of the events that have such markers, people DO learn about it from the markers – many events are not widely known or publicized, even if the broader movements they are a part of may be well-known. And, as Loewen points out, it;'s not as if there’s some central governing body overseeing monuments and their historical accuracy. Practically anyone can put up a marker. But just because there’s a monument marking the supposed grave of one of Prince Henry Sinclair’s party from his 1398 voyage to North America in Westford, MA doesn’t mean that even a significant number of historians believe that Prince Henry Sinclair actually came to Massachusetts a century before Columbus. ---
**Author:** ![Deeg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/deeg/32/2955_2.png) [@Deeg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Deeg)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 5:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/79 "2015-10-16T17:17:26Z")
When I saw the title of the thread I thought immediately “yea” and am surprised at the number of people who are strongly nay. I understand and respect that opinion (no one is wrong) but IMO having a MLK monument at Stone Mountain is a slap to what it originally stood for and I like that. ---
**Author:** ![WOOKINPANUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wookinpanub/32/132_2.png) [@WOOKINPANUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WOOKINPANUB)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2015, 5:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633/80 "2015-10-16T17:47:37Z")
> [@Deeg](#): > > When I saw the title of the thread I thought immediately “yea” and am surprised at the number of people who are strongly nay. I understand and respect that opinion (no one is wrong) but IMO having a MLK monument at Stone Mountain is a slap to what it originally stood for and I like that. Right. Make an MLK tribute so compelling as to overshadow the carvings. Sort of how Knott’s Berry Farm started as an actual farm but now people only go there for the rides:) (just kidding, sort of). Maybe one day it will be sort of a footnote, like " oh yeah, and over there is the the mountain from which the park gets its name. Even as recently as the 20th century there were still people who believed in the Confederacy" yada yada yada Except for the time I visited SM, I haven’t ever thought about it, but now that we’re talking about it I think the same thing I did when looking at it; oh there’s the three racist, loser bastards from the civil war. Obviously I can only speak for myself, but it evokes no emotional response in me whatsoever. I didn’t know about the Klan aspect but now that I do, it just makes the "tribute " more of a joke. Sorry if I’m offending anyone by not taking it as seriously as they but it’s hard for me to imagine anyone looking at it and feeling reverence(except of course for those that are already proConfederacy, and destroying it won’t change their minds anyway). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/mlk-monument-on-stone-mountain-yea-nay-or-eh/734633.md?page=5)