The Sons of Confederate Veterans group’s held their Confederate Memorial Day celebration at Stone Mountain Park in Georgia near Atlanta, despite meeting with opposition from local groups.
The event was canceled for several years due to COVID but was revived in 2022.
Although groups, including the Southern Poverty Law Center, called for the event’s permit to be revoked, the 2023 Confederate Memorial Day event was allowed to go ahead by the state authority that runs Stone Mountain Park.
Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial, completed in 1972, is perhaps the South’s most audacious monument to its pro-slavery legacy still intact.
Despite long-standing demands for the removal of what many consider a shrine to racism, the giant depiction of three Confederate heroes on horseback still towers ominously over the Georgia countryside protected by state law.
A Son of the Confederate stands in front of the large Confederate monument at Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park
A man can be seen holding the Confederate flag below the monument at Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park
Stone Mountain Confederate Memorial, completed in 1972, is perhaps the South’s most audacious monument to its pro-slavery legacy still intact.
About 200 members of the Sons of Confederate Veterans gathered at the foot of Stone Mountain in Georgia on Saturday at an annual celebration of the Confederacy
Civil War re-enactor, Tim Marks, 56, from North Carolina attends the Sons of Confederate Veterans Memorial Day Service at Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park
The Sons of Confederate Veterans say that the statue honors the sacrifices of their forebears
Civil War re-enactors at the Sons of Confederate Veterans Memorial Day Service, prepare to fire a cannon
The event, sponsored by the Sons of Confederate Veterans, draws a number of Confederate supporters each year
The event took place at the foot of a 90-foot-tall bas-relief sculpture depicting three Confederate leaders on horseback notched in Stone Mountain’s granite face
Organization leaders have previously said that they are not racist and don’t support hate against other groups
Those taking part in the celebrations dress up in military attire and carry rifles
Two men attend the 20th Annual National Confederate Memorial Day Service
The man taking part come armed with bayonets to make it a lifelike as possible
The men stand guard while waiting for orders from the superior officers
The nine-story-high bas-relief sculpture is carved into a sprawling rock face northeast of Atlanta in a place that holds a special symbolism for white supremacy.
Stone Mountain was the location of the rebirth ceremony of The Ku Klux Klan, a hate group that was formed by Confederate Army veterans and has a history of lynchings and terror against black people.
The ceremony was held atop mountain in 1915 with flaming crosses, decades before it was chosen as the best memorial site.
Klansmen still hold occasional gatherings in the shadows of the edifice, albeit now met with protesters behind police tape.
Longer than a 100-yard American football field, it features the likenesses of Jefferson Davis, the president of the 11-state Confederacy, and two of its legendary military leaders, Robert E. Lee and Thomas ‘Stonewall’ Jackson, notched in a relief 400 feet above ground.
Confederate symbols have been a flashpoint in Georgia for decades
Others who are not taking part in the proceedings can relax and smoke a cigarette
Two Sons of Confederate Veterans stand on a stage in front of the giant Confederate monument at Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park
Stone Mountain has long held symbolism for white supremacists
Although the park has historically been a gathering spot for white supremacists, the adjoining city of Stone Mountain has a majority-black population today
Some of the actors taking part stand by a Civil War canon
Pro-Confederate supporters are pictured as they sing the national anthem at the event
The Sons of Confederate Veterans is an American neo-Confederate nonprofit organization of male descendants of Confederate soldiers that commemorates their ancestors
Men bow their heads out of respect as a prayer is held for the dead who served in the army
A Son of Confederate Veterans shows off his patches during the Annual National Confederate Memorial Day Service
The Ku Klux Klan, a hate group formed by Confederate Army veterans with a history of lynchings and terror against black people, held its rebirth ceremony atop the mountain in 1915 with flaming crosses
The park is a popular recreation spot for many families on the east side of Atlanta, with hiking trails, a golf course, boat rentals and other attractions
Aside from Saturday’s reenactment, the park has long been known for its laser light shows
Members of the pro-Confederate group were seen adorned with the Southern Cross battle flag, emblazoned on their t-shirts and ironed onto the backs of jackets
Those taking part in the day’s activities taking their roles extremely seriously
A reenactor is seen standing with several medals to his name
The Sons of Confederate Veterans is an organization that staunchly defends Stone Mountain and other Confederate statues and emblems.
Dedicated to teaching the ‘Southern Cause,’ according to its website, it believes their removal is akin to purging American history.
The Southern or ‘Lost Cause of the Confederacy’ holds that the war was fought over a heroic, but lost, effort to defend states’ rights to secede from the Union in the face of Northern aggression, rather than the preservation of slavery.
Martin O’Toole, an official of the Georgia chapter, said the monument is not a totem of racism at all. It’s history, plain and simple, he says.
‘It’s three men on horses,’ O’Toole said. ‘What’s racist about that?’
This year’s keynote speaker was Pastor John Weaver. The Southern Poverty Law Center has described him as a ‘religious mainstay of the racist neo-Confederate movement and a man who has recently become a leading proponent of training Christians for armed battle.’
Ahead of the event, the Stone Mountain Action Coalition, which has opposed the previous white nationalist and neo-Confederate gatherings at the park and in the city, has said there is ‘no place for an event like this at a public, state-owned, taxpayer-supported park.’
Male descendants of those who served in the Confederate armed forces, or one of the constituent states are able to take part
A young girl holds and waves the Confederate flag at the Annual National Confederate Memorial Day Service
This year’s keynote speaker was Pastor John Weaver. The Southern Poverty Law Center has described him as a ‘religious mainstay of the racist neo-Confederate movement and a man who has recently become a leading proponent of training Christians for armed battle.’
Reenactors are pictured removing their caps as Taps is played to honor the Confederate veterans of the Civil War
The proclaimed purpose of the Sons of Confederate Veterans is ‘to encourage the preservation of history and perpetuate the hallowed memories of brave men.’
Membership of the group can be obtained through either lineal or collateral family lines. Kinship to a veteran must be documented genealogically.
Laura Hancock, 62, attends the Sons of Confederate Veterans Memorial Day Service
Members of the pro-Confederate group were seen adorned with the Southern Cross battle flag, emblazoned on their t-shirts and ironed onto the backs of jackets.
Sons of Confederate Veterans salute flags in front of the giant Confederate monument
:Civil War reenactors prepare to fire a cannon during Memorial Day Service
The Sons of Confederate Veterans is an American neo-Confederate nonprofit organization of male descendants of Confederate soldiers
Those taking part attempt to dress in attire that is similar to that worn during the Civil War
The event took place at the foot of a 90-foot-tall bas-relief sculpture depicting three Confederate leaders on horseback notched in Stone Mountain’s granite face
A group of Confederate reenactment soldiers pose for a photo at Saturday’s event
:Two Sons of Confederate Veterans stand on a stage in front of the giant Confederate monument at Georgia’s Stone Mountain Park
Sons of Confederate Veterans has a coordinated display of larger and even more prominent public displays of the controversial battle flag each year
Counter protesters gather against a group celebrating ‘Confederate Memorial Day’
Counter protesters march to Stone Mountain Park in Stone Mountain, Georgia on Saturday
Police officers stand watch as counter protesters gather against a group celebrating Confederate Memorial Day
Ryan Stelio holds a sign while participating in a counter protest against the Confederate group
A woman holds a sign as counter protesters gather against a group celebrating Confederate Memorial Day in Stone Mountain
Members of the Stone Mountain Action Coalition, or SMAC, had been fighting to keep everyone from seeing the confederate flag on Saturday
That event saw a robust counterprotest, though a far less combustible situation than the street demonstrations in 2020 as officers kept both sides separated at the park
In the recent past, events that drew opposing demonstrators to the park and the nearby city of Stone Mountain have gone smoothly, while others have ended in fist fights and park closures
The Stone Mountain Action Coalition, one of the groups calling for the event’s cancellation, cited public safety concerns in a statement released this earlier week
‘Not only is the event a threat to public safety, but it is highly offensive to the vast majority of regular Park visitors, most of whom come from the Atlanta area and, in particular, from the majority-black neighborhoods that surround the Park,’ the group stated.
Last year, Martin O’Toole, a spokesman for the Sons of Confederate Veterans and also the leader of the openly white nationalist Charles Martel Society, gave the keynote speech.
A coalition of groups, including the Georgia NAACP, Democratic Socialists of America, and The People’s Uprising, as well as counter-demonstrators associated with the antifascist movement, were present to protest.
One counter-protester, Pastor Bryan Pittman, said, ‘As you can see, people are really tired of dealing with things that should be naturally intolerable.’
He added: ‘We do not memorialize people who damaged people, who erased cultures, who erased families,’ expressing his objections to memorializing Confederate soldiers.
For decades, the KKK has held ceremonies at the mountain. Pictured in 1946, initiates in suits marching together up Stone Mountain along with members of the Ku Klux Klan
Sculptor Augustus Lukeman working on the face of General Robert Lee on the Stone Mountain sculpture. The full sculpture is nine stories high and longer than an American football field
Stone Mountain is a place of importance for the Ku Klux Klan and was the location of its rebirthing ceremony in 1915. Klansman still gather here around July 4, as pictured
Pictured, supporters of the Ku Klux Klan salute as they gather to march at Stone Mountain in 1989. Supporters of the Confederate carving here deny it has ties to racism
There have been recent protests calling for the carving to be removed, pictured
JEFFERSON DAVIS AND ROBERT E. LEE STANDING 90FT TALL: THE WORLD’S BIGGEST CONFEDERATE MEMORIAL
This rally’s location is particularly charged due to the huge bas-relief sculpture carved into Stone Mountain in the mountain in the early 20th century.
It shows showing Confederate leaders Robert E. Lee, president Jefferson Davis and Stonewall Jackson mounted on their favorite horses. The figures stand some 90ft tall, and together form the largest bas-relief carving on earth, covering three acres.
The carving was proposed and initially funded by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
It took from 1916 to 1972 to complete, with one thiry-year gap when no work took place.
The park, including the carving, was purchased by the State of Georgia in 1958 for more than $1million.
The huge sculpture, completed in 1972, is the world’s largest bas-relief carving
A close-up of the carving. Left is Jefferson Davis, the first and only Confederate president, center is general Robert E. Lee and to the right is Stonewall Jackson. The figures are roughly as tall as a nine-story building