BRANDON, Miss. (WJTV) – During the Brandon Board of Aldermen meeting on Monday, numerous community members spoke about the Confederate monument in the downtown area.
In June, Brandon’s mayor asserted that any proposal to move the statue was hypothetical. Based on Monday’s biweekly board meeting, it appeared to be a real possibility. As a result, residents on both sides of the debate took the first hour of the meeting to express how they felt about the issue.
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The last time the debate appeared with this intensity was roughly five years ago. It stemmed from a national reflection on the impact of racism nationwide and the recent changing of Mississippi’s state flag. During Monday’s meeting, 17 people spoke about the monument. Nine expressly called for the city to move the statue. John Toney, a Brandon resident since 1971, was one of those residents.
Toney retired as the executive director of the Mississippi Commission on Judicial Performance. He also worked as a city prosecutor and Circuit Court Judge for Rankin and Madison counties. He asserted that the statue was an everlasting monument to white supremacy…