TALLAHASSEE, Florida — Florida’s Republican-controlled Legislature wants to block cities and counties from removing or relocating Confederate monuments, a move that has already sparked intense debates about history, racism and white supremacy.
The bills currently moving through the GOP-led Legislature are causing a backlash from Democratic lawmakers, who say the measures are deeply offensive. State Republicans have supported similar bills in recent years that haven’t passed, but this year’s effort may be gaining momentum after lawmakers have advanced bills in the House and Senate.
Several cities and counties in Florida have removed or relocated Confederate memorials in the past few years. But this latest round of legislation comes in the wake of a contentious battle in Jacksonville where the Democratic mayor of the city pushed to remove two bronze statues known as the “Women of the Southland” that includes a woman in a robe carrying a Confederate flag. The statues were first installed in 1915.