ACLU of Louisiana Praises Caddo Parish Committee for Voting to Remove Confederate Monument

NEW ORLEANS — The American Civil Liberties Union of Louisiana today praised the Caddo Parish Commission’s Long-Range Planning/Special Projects Committee for voting to remove the parish’s Confederate monument that stands outside the Caddo Parish Courthouse.

The monument, dedicated in 1906, was built to commemorate the “Lost Cause” of the Confederacy and the “principles for which the Confederate soldier fought and died.” The matter will now be taken up and voted on by the full Commission at a later date.

Marjorie R. Esman, the executive director of the ACLU of Louisiana, had this reaction:

“Confederate monuments were built to commemorate the institution of slavery and its ongoing legacies of white supremacy and racism, and have no place being glorified in our public spaces. This monument, which was dedicated more than four decades after the Civil War ended, looms over everyone who enters the parish courthouse. The ugly history of the Confederacy should be exposed and confronted, not honored or glorified with monuments that celebrate its hateful ideology. We commend the committee for voting to remove this shameful shrine to racism and white supremacy and urge the members of the Caddo Parish Commission to follow its recommendation without delay.”

In May, Esman sent an open letter to Caddo Parish Commissioners today, urging them to take steps to remove the Confederate monument at the Caddo Parish Courthouse. A copy of the letter is online at: https://www.laaclu.org/en/news/open-letter-regarding-confederate-monument-caddo-parish-courthouse