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Griffin rolls back Confederate History Month proclamation

By Carl Willis
By Carl Willis

GRIFFIN, Ga. — A local city is taking back a proclamation after backlash from the community when it declared April as Confederate History Month.

The room was jampacked with people for the Griffin City Commission meeting Tuesday night and it didn’t take long for the commission to take back the controversial measure.

"The city of Griffin hereby rescinds the proclamation entitled ‘Confederate History Month’ issued by this court on March 27," Griffin Commission Chair Douglas Hollberg said.

Despite the applause from the people in the room, the matter was far from finished with Griffin residents finally being able to speak out about the proclamation

Also adding to the debate, the now infamous language used by former Griffin City Commissioner Larry Johnson who repeatedly used the N-word while speaking in support of the proclamation during a previous commission meeting.

“By not shutting Mr. Johnson down the first time he uttered a racial slur, Mr. Hollberg, you appeared to support Mr. Johnson's ideas,” a female speaker said.

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“You doubling down and silencing the black voice so he can finish, you have made Griffin look bad on a global scale. Nothing on the Internet ever goes away,” the woman said. 

Still, there was at least one voice, including Mike Laster with the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who spoke out against the rescission. 

"It's observing a Memorial Day. Men died 150 years ago," Lester said. 

"For me and for many others, it was a psychological noose attempted to be placed around the necks of African-American citizens," another resident said.

Still, the original lone voice of opposition to the language and the proclamation said he doesn't want Griffin to just be known for these issues.

"We remember history. We understand history. We know that the Civil War happened, but we also know that we are not going to stand up in the side of hatred," Griffin Mayor Rodney McCord said. 

Cox Media Group

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