The debate over Confederate monuments heads to the New Orleans City Council this afternoon.
New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is asking officials to consider removing four memorials that honor Confederate heroes and events. He’s making a presentation at noon to the City Council.
His request comes after the debate that flared over the Confederate flag flying at the South Carolina statehouse. Lawmakers there are in the process of removing the flag after nine African Americans were shot dead at bible study. The accused shooter is a white supremacist who posed with the Confederate flag.
Landrieu has said it’s time to review four memorials in the city – statues of generals Robert E. Lee and PGT Beauregard and president Jefferson Davis, and a plaque honoring the Crescent City White League. That group killed members of the post-Civil War integrated police force.
Landrieu wants officials to consider replacing those monuments with others that reflect the city’s diversity and future as it approaches the 300th anniversary in 2018.
