Democrat Mayor Celebrates Removal of Statue That Honored Women of the South

One Democratic mayor has no interest in honoring the women who helped build modern America.

Donna Deegan, who was elected as the mayor of Jacksonville, Florida, in May, celebrated the removal of a Confederate statue on Wednesday but insisted she was not trying to “erase history” in the process.

The statue, named  “In Memory of Our Women of the Southland,” was erected in October 1915 and showed a woman holding her two young children by her side. It was situated in the neighborhood of Springfield, north of downtown Jacksonville.

Posting on the X social media platform, Deegan said the statue’s removal was about showing the city’s “shared humanity.”

“Symbols matter,” she wrote. “They tell the world what we stand for and what we aspire to be. By removing the Confederate monument from Springfield Park, we signal a belief in our shared humanity.

“My prayer today is for our beautiful city to continue embracing unity and bending the arc of history towards justice,” she added.

Symbols matter. They tell the world what we stand for and what we aspire to be. By removing the confederate monument from Springfield Park, we signal a belief in our shared humanity. That we are all created equal. The same flesh and bones. The same blood running through our…

— Mayor Donna Deegan (@MayorDeegan) December 27, 2023

In a news release accompanying Deegan’s post, her office confirmed that the statue was removed using funding from left-wing groups, including the Jessie Ball duPont Fund and anonymous donations given to the self-described “racial healing and equity” organization 904WARD.

The cost of its removal was reportedly $187,000.

Deegan’s office also confirmed that she bypassed approval from the Jacksonville City Council, citing the Office of General Counsel, which claimed that it was “unnecessary since city funds were not being utilized or requested for the work that was completed.”

“Our legal analysis finds that Mayor Deegan has the authority as executive of the City – and because city funds are not being utilized – to control the property, the park, and the monument,” General Counsel Michael Fackler argued.

Meanwhile, Florida Governor Ron DeSantis has signaled his opposition to the statue’s removal.

“I’m opposed to taking down statues,” he told reporters on Friday, according to The Washington Examiner. “The idea that we’re going to just erase history is wrong.”

“You’ve seen it now where they tried to take down Thomas Jefferson. They tried to take down George Washington off schools. It just gets so out of hand. So I don’t support taking down statues, particularly if you don’t have legal authority to do it.”

NEW: @RonDeSantis takes a blowtorch to new Dem Jacksonville mayor for removing Confederate statue:

“I’m opposed to taking down statues. The idea that we’re going to just erase history is wrong.”https://t.co/E7qm0vSfz7

— Cryptid Politics 🇺🇸🐊 (@CryptidPolitics) December 29, 2023

Despite Deegan’s eagerness to advance an agenda of “shared humanity,” violent crime in Jacksonville remains a major issue. According to Breitbart, there have been 123 criminal homicides over the course of 2023, many of which were black-on-black crimes.

In August, a mass shooting took place at one of the city’s Dollar General stores, leading to three fatalities. The incident was being investigated as a potential hate crime.

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Ben Kew is a conservative journalist and commentator. Originally from the United Kingdom, he studied politics and modern languages at the University of Bristol. He started his career at Breitbart London aged 20, before moving to the U.S. to cover Congress and eventually becoming the outlet’s Latin America correspondent until the end of 2020. Since then he has worked in editorial roles at RedState and Human Events. He has also written for The Spectator, Spiked, The Epoch Times, The Critic and PanAm Post.

Ben Kew is a conservative journalist and commentator. Originally from the United Kingdom, he studied politics and modern languages at the University of Bristol. He started his career at Breitbart London aged 20, before moving to the U.S. to cover Congress and eventually becoming the outlet’s Latin America correspondent until the end of 2020. Since then he has worked in editorial roles at RedState and Human Events. He has also written for The Spectator, Spiked, The Epoch Times, The Critic and PanAm Post.