Which State Are and Aren’t Removing Confederate Monuments?

Michelle Wilson - August 7, 2020

No matter what side of the debate your opinions may land on, we can all agree that the police killing of George Floyd has changed the face of America. As such in the wake of the movement sparked by Mr. Floyd’s death is a renewed voice for removing Confederate Symbols all over the country.

To date the top states that have removed confederate symbols has been Virginia, Florida and Texas. However, in every instance of a removal 10 other symbols or monuments remain in full public view.

While some states have made movements towards addressing these key changes, some states have removed virtually zero symbols of the confederacy. These states include West Virginia, South Carolina and Mississippi.

The State of State Stats (say that 5 times fast!)

• States With The Largest Percentage of Remaining Confederate Symbols

  West Virginia (100% still up), South Carolina (99%), Mississippi (99%) and Arkansas (96%), followed by Georgia and Alabama (95% ea).

• Maryland & Califonia have Removed The most

  Out of the states that had at least 10 confederate symbols, Marland (73% removed), California (54%), Oklahoma (33%), the District of Columbia (25%) and Florida (22%).

• Most Remaining Symbols

  Virginia (232), Texas (202), Georgia (198), South Carolina (194), North Carolina (160), Mississippi (147), Alabama (121), Tennessee (98), Louisiana (84) and Florida (62).

• Who They Honor

  Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis and Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson are the top Confederates with statues, roads and schools in their name; Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Confederate general who was the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan, has the sixth most number of monuments.

In total approx. 1,700 public confederate symbols are still standing or being honored today. These monuments include statues, plaques, schools, roads, military bases, buildings, parks and other public designations.

States with the Most Confederate Symbol Removals

State	# of Remaining Symbols	%Removed
Maryland	3	73%
California	5	54%
Oklahoma	18	33%
District of Columbia	12	25%
Florida	80	22%
Missouri	24	17%
Texas	242	16%
Kentucky	42	12%
Virginia	262	11%

States with the Fewest Confederate Symbols

State	# of Remaining Symbols	%Removed
West Virginia	21	0%
South Carolina	194	1%
Mississippi	147	1%
Arkansas	64	4%
Georgia	198	5%
Alabama	121	5%
Louisiana	84	6%
North Carolina	160	9%
Tennessee	98	10%

Confederate Symbol Removals in 2020

Confederate Figure	# of Symbols Removed
Non Specific	27
Robert E Lee	5
Jefferson Davis	4
Thomas Jonathan “Sonewall” Jackson	2
No name recorded	1
Alberty Pike	1
Charles Linn	1
Henry Lawson Wyatt	1
James Ewell Brown “Jeb” Stuart	1
John B Castleman	1
John C. Calhoun	1
Mathew Fontaine Maury	1
Raphael Semmes	1
Richard W Dowling	1
Sam Davis	1
Stand Watie	1
Williams Carter Wickham	1
Zebulon Baird Vance	1

While change is for sure on the forefront, there is still quite a bit of work to be done in the name of progress and equality. It is an unfortunate fact that in the united states action typically comes as a result of tragedy, as such with George Floyd. But as long as we keep marching towards progress we can look forward to a future with less symbols of hate and oppression that hopefully make way for inspiration and unity.