On Friday, activists congregated at the Duval County federal courthouse, continuing their efforts to ensure the removal of all Confederate monuments in Jacksonville and across Florida.
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The fight continues.
This was the unanimous message delivered from the courthouse steps in Duval County by civil rights activists, as they emphasized the ongoing campaign to dismantle all Confederate monuments statewide, including in Jacksonville.
The continuing lawsuit, initiated in 2021 by Earl Johnson Jr., the son of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s legal advisor, claims that Confederate commemorations situated on public property—and funded by taxpayers—are in violation of the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The lawsuit targets the City of Jacksonville, its mayor, and Gov. Ron DeSantis, as noted by Wells Todd, the founder of Take ‘Em Down Jax.
The case, which is being heard by the United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit, was the focal point of the gathering at the courthouse Friday.
Johnson doesn’t want Confederate monuments on public land, doesn’t want streets named after the Confederacy, and doesn’t want tax dollars going towards things named after the Confederacy. That includes counties named after Confederate generals.
“Having to drive down Confederate Street or streets named after Jefferson or Davis, Stonewall and Jackson are a tremendous reminder that it’s the government that supports these tributes,” said Johnson.
Johnson’s case argues the use of tax dollars for Confederate monuments is unconstitutional, according to the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“This case is about my dignity as a Black American,” Johnson said on the steps of the courthouse. “When I walk into a park that has a tribute to the Confederacy, that is demeaning me as an American, making me less than human, less than a second-class citizen.”
Although some have been removed since the time Johnson filed his lawsuit, it states that there are 47 different named tributes to the Confederacy in the Middle District of Florida, and that includes the names of five Florida counties.
One monument that’s been removed since the lawsuit was filed was one of the most hotly contested Confederate monuments in all of Jacksonville — the Women of the Southern Confederacy. It was removed in December 2023 from Springfield Park, which was previously named Confederate Park.
“Confederate monuments, they’re not just old statues, they’re not just symbols of hate, they are shrines to rebellion that fought to keep our ancestors in chains,” said Northside Coalition of Jacksonville President Kelly Frazier. “The Confederacy lost the war, but the ideology that they fought for, that’s still standing in tall and public spaces such as schools, bridges and street signs.”
First Coast News spoke with a former member of the City of Jacksonville’s legal team who said the case was initially dismissed in 2023. He said the city argued that if Johnson had legal standing simply because he was offended, then thousands of others could make similar claims — potentially giving anyone standing for anything.
At the time, a judge ruled Johnson hadn’t shown enough harm to move forward with the lawsuit.
Johnson appealed the decision, and finally had a day in court to state his case four years after he initially filed the lawsuit.
Johnson isn’t asking for any money in his lawsuit, just a declaratory judgment and action by the mayor of Jacksonville, currently Mayor Donna Deegan, and DeSantis.
“I wanna say this to Governor DeSantis… I wanna say to the governor, if he believes that we are all equal, then he should understand that Black history must be taught in our schools,” said Todd. “Because if it’s not, it’s a deficit to our children’s self-esteem. If it is not, it is also a detriment to white children’s self-esteem.”
First Coast News reached out to Mayor Donna Deegan’s office. A spokesperson said she couldn’t comment on an ongoing lawsuit, but pointed to the mayor’s decision to remove the statue in Springfield Park as a sign of where she stands on the issue of Confederate monuments as a whole.
