Accomplice banner stokes controversy forward of Jacksonville Jaguars sport – Florida Politics

For the second time in 2022, a soccer sport in Jacksonville was used as a platform for an offensive message.

Forward of the Jaguars’ Sunday afternoon tilt towards the Baltimore Ravens, a airplane funded by the Save Southern Heritage group flew a banner above TIAA Financial institution Subject calling for the restoration of accomplice statues in Jacksonville.

“Put monuments again,” learn the picture recorded by Bonnie Upright Sunday.

Mayor Lenny Curry was fast to reply, noting that he needs all accomplice monuments gone.

“As I’ve stated earlier than, there is no such thing as a place for hate of any sort in our Metropolis. My place on monuments stays clear, I’ve allotted cash for removing and empowered metropolis council to take motion,” Curry, who has eliminated one monument throughout his tenure, tweeted Sunday.

Mayoral candidate Donna Deegan additionally weighed in: “As soon as once more, symbols of hate are on show as Jacksonville is on the nationwide stage. However it doesn’t mirror our inclusive metropolis. We stand united towards any and all types of hate, and we are going to take down all of the monuments to a darkish previous. That’s our message to the remainder of the world.”

The incident comes simply weeks after the Florida/Georgia Sport, one of many largest occasions on Jacksonville’s cultural calendar, was marred with anti-semitic messages displayed on the stadium and elsewhere on the town.

The antisemitic messages first surfaced on a overpass on I-10 in western Duval County. A banner urged drivers to “finish Jewish supremacy” and “honk if it was the Jews.”

One other one surfaced on Arlington Expressway, extolling Kanye West for being “proper concerning the Jews.”

After the soccer sport downtown, comparable messages had been broadcast on the stadium and different downtown buildings.

The town of Jacksonville has handled organized hate teams many instances in its historical past, together with repeated current flyer distributions by the Ku Klux Klan. The decision for accomplice monument restoration from Save Southern Heritage comes after Mayor Curry in 2020 orchestrated the removing of a accomplice statue in what’s now known as James Weldon Johnson Park.

Although a proposal from present mayoral candidate Al Ferraro that might have known as for a referendum on the way forward for accomplice monuments died earlier this yr, the Metropolis Council has taken a cautious path on the seditionist statuary, which has vexed the mayor

“The Jax Metropolis Council ought to take a yes-or-no vote on the removing of monuments that signify the oppression of individuals. The individuals of Jax, that elected you, need to know the place you stand. They elected you to make selections,” Curry tweeted lately relating to a Accomplice monument in Springfield Park, an object of native rivalry.

Curry’s proposal to move the monument was not embraced by the Metropolis Council.

How are issues getting into #duuuval? That is at the moment being flown close to the stadium. pic.twitter.com/HoeL9YlZ2K

— Bonnie Upright, APR (@bonnieupright) November 27, 2022

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