A statue of Andrew Jackson in New Orleans, Louisiana. Photo: Michael Miller
The city of New Orleans, Louisiana, has begun removing four monuments to racist and controversial figures but one remains standing. A group called Take 'Em Down NOLA has included a statue of Andrew Jackson in its list of monuments that must come down. But the city is only getting rid of four figures that are linked to its Confederate past. "We will not allow the Confederacy to be put on a pedestal in the heart of New Orleans," Mayor Mitch Landrieu (D) wrote on Twitter as the first monument was being taken down on Monday morning. The same standard does not appear to apply to Jackson, who was a slave owner in Tennessee. Instead he is revered as the Army general who kept New Orleans from falling into British hands during the War of 1812. As the seventh president of the United States, Jackson forced tribes out in the southeast in the 1830s in order to give their homelands to non-Indians. The removal effort, known as the Trail of Tears, led to the deaths of thousands along the way from the southeast to present-day Oklahoma. Read More on the Story:
Removal of the first of four New Orleans Confederate monuments begins with Liberty Place (Nola.Com 4/24)
Confederate monuments removal: Mayor Landrieu isn't providing details (Nola.Com 4/24)
New Orleans Begins Removing Confederate Monuments, Under Police Guard (The New York Times 4/24)
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