FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 23, 2020
PHOENIX – Rep. Reginald Bolding, Chairman of Arizona's African American Legislative Caucus, released the following statement regarding today's removal and relocation of two controversial Confederate monuments from state property -- the memorial honoring Confederate troops at Wesley Bolin Plaza and the Jefferson Davis Highway memorial near Gold Canyon.
"It is long past time to remove memorials to the Confederacy that served to legitimize injustice and inequality. That's why I first stood in front of the Governor Ducey's Office in 2015 after what happened in Charleston, South Carolina, where the world saw how these symbols can incite violence and mass murder. We asked again in 2017, and again this year. It's good that finally the monument in Wesley Bolin Plaza is gone, but the Governor has had the ability to remove these symbols of hate and racial oppression from the public square the entire time.
While it's much appreciated that two monuments are now gone, there are still several other symbols on state property that are laced with Confederate symbolism and all it stood for. Not only do we call for the removal of those as well, but we renew our call to pair these symbolic gestures with substantial policy changes to heal communities that have been oppressed, including police reform."
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