A report discovered 73 Confederate statues were removed or renamed last year.
According to the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC.), there are 723 live confederate monuments as of January of this year.
Additionally, there are 741 roadways honoring Confederates, along with 201 schools, 104 counties and municipalities, 38 parks, 51 buildings, 22 holidays, 10 military bases, and more.
The report noted Confederate memorials could even be found in Puerto Rico.
Robert E. Lee is most frequently honored with 235 memorials, followed by Jefferson Davis with 144 and Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson with 121.
“SPLC recognizes that removing Confederate memorials is, in and of itself, not enough. The legacy of the Confederacy is far more enduring than any memorial ever could be,” the report reads.
The organization argued it is not surprising that Confederate memorials appear throughout the country because “white supremacy is endemic to our society.”
The report continues, “Confederate memorials have no place in public space.”
The organization pointed out the 2020 murder of George Floyd “sparked the removal of 157 memorials, the most removals in any one year on record.”
It mentioned how in some instances “protestors dramatically felled the monuments. Other times, elected officials removed monuments, citing public safety concerns.”
Concluding the report, the organization explained, “War is a dominant theme in monuments across the United States. 76 Confederate memorials reflect this, intentionally telling a version of history that erases what these men fought to protect: slavery.”
It added, “Who Confederate memorials remember reinforces the way war and violence work simultaneously to facilitate white supremacy and dominate our collective memory.”
According to the center’s website, the organization is “a catalyst for racial justice in the South and beyond, working in partnership with communities to dismantle white supremacy, strengthen intersectional movements, and advance the human rights of all people.”
