Jacksonville community meets to discuss future of removed Confederate statues

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Jacksonville community came together Friday night to share their thoughts about what should be done with the removed Confederate monuments.

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Take Em Down Jax hosted the public forum at the Jessie Ball duPont Center.

The purpose was to engage the community in a discussion about the removal, renaming, and re-purposing of Confederate monuments after the last one in Springfield Park was taken down in December 2023.

Action News Jax Annette Gutierrez spoke with Take Em Down Jax founder Wells Todd who said there is still a lot of work that needs to be done.

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“When the statue came down, the fight had just begun... And we’re doing everything to make sure the statue does not go back up,” Todd said.

Todd wants to have the statues melted and repurposed.

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Seber Newsome III with Save Southern Heritage Florida wants more monuments to be put up to tell everyone’s history.

“I think more monuments and memorials, markers, etc. should be put up, not taken down. Let’s tell everyone’s history, Black and white, so that people can look at them and make their own decisions about history, cause them to investigate and learn the truth, and make up their own views,” Newsome said. “Once they are taken down, the opportunity to learn from them is gone forever.”

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