A Georgia chapter of the Sons of Confederate Veterans has filed a lawsuit against Stone Mountain Park, home to the nation’s largest Confederate monument.
The suit accuses state officials of violating Georgia law by planning an exhibit that highlights the site’s ties to slavery, segregation, and the Ku Klux Klan.
The carving, etched into the mountain’s northern face, depicts Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson on horseback. Critics have long called for context to the monument, citing its roots in the “Lost Cause” mythology, a narrative that romanticizes the Confederacy and downplays slavery’s central role in the Civil War.
Following national protests over racial injustice in 2020, the Stone Mountain Memorial Association voted in 2021 to relocate Confederate flags and introduce a new “truth-telling” exhibit.
The exhibit, still in development, is being designed by Warner Museums and aims to explore how the carving, commissioned in 1915—the same year the Ku Klux Klan reemerged on the mountain—became a symbol of white supremacy.
The lawsuit argues that such changes violate Georgia law, which protects the Confederate imagery on the mountain. “When they come after the history and attempt to change everything to the present political structure, that’s against the law,” said Martin O’Toole, a spokesperson for the Confederate group.
State lawmakers approved $11 million in 2023 for the exhibit and renovations to the park’s Memorial Hall. The park’s board also voted to remove the Confederate image from its official logo.
Supporters of the exhibit say it will finally provide historical context. Opponents call it a politically motivated erasure.
The legal fight now looms over how Georgia reckons with a monument steeped in the legacy of the Civil War — and the racial hierarchies it upheld.
