Local NAACP wants Confederate carving on Stone Mountain, Ga., covered or removed

A viral image that promotes preserving the largest symbol of the Confederacy is being widely shared again.

The image shows superimposed over the Confederate flag the Confederate Memorial Carving, a sculpture carved into the face of Stone Mountain, outside of Atlanta. 

The Stone Mountain Park carving, which covers three acres of surface and took 57 years to complete, depicts on horseback three leading Civil War-era figures from the South: Confederate President Jefferson Davis, and Confederate generals Robert E. Lee and Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson.

The online post makes a claim we want to check: 

"The NAACP wants this sandblasted off Stone Mountain. LIKE and SHARE this post if you think it should be left alone."

The image has been shared on social media at least since 2015 and resurfaced in September 2021. 

A Facebook post with the image was flagged as part of Facebook’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Facebook.)

Atlanta NAACP President Richard Rose told PolitiFact: "The NAACP Atlanta advocates for removing the carving. It is the position of the Atlanta NAACP and the executive committee."

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Rose said his chapter has not specifically stated that it wants the carving sandblasted off the mountain, but that he believes it could be removed or covered or that it would eventually erode away if maintenance on it were stopped.

He said the national NAACP opposes Confederate symbols in public places, but has not stated a position specifically on the carving.

In 2018, the DeKalb County, Ga., chapter of the NAACP condemned the carving in a statement but did not call for its removal, citing cost and opposition from the public and Georgia lawmakers.

But the groups said it advocates changes at the park, including removing all references to the park as a memorial to the Confederacy.

The national NAACP and the DeKalb chapter did not respond to our calls and emails.

In May 2021, the board overseeing the park voted to relocate Confederate flags from a busy walking trail and create a museum exhibit that acknowledges the site’s connection to the Ku Klux Klan, which held a cross-burning on the mountain in 1915.

A viral image states that the NAACP wants" the Confederate Memorial Carving "sandblasted off Stone Mountain."

The Atlanta NAACP advocates for removing the carving, though not necessarily by sandblasting. The national NAACP opposes Confederate tribute imagery but has not stated a position specifically on the carving. 

We rate the post Half True.