Petition seeks removal of historical courthouse mural that included Klan
A petition on Change.org seeks removal of a historical mural in a Florida courthouse that shows hooded members of the Ku Klux Klan riding horses.
News4Jax has a story on the petition, which criticizes the painting hanging in the Baker County courthouse for its “divisive imagery” and for denying “the true horror inflicted by the KKK.”
As of Thursday morning, the petition to remove the painting had 184 supporters. A competing petition, labeled “Leave the mural alone at the courthouse,” had 757 supporters Thursday morning.
The artist who created the mural, Gene Barber, addressed an earlier controversy in the 2000s, according to News4Jax. “I did not follow the current and unfortunate fad of revising history for the sake of making it fit the wishes of any special interest segments of society,” Barber said. “I avoided as carefully as possible interpreting the past using our contemporary standards. The history of the county is here … warts and roses and all.”
The petition to remove the mural says it is authored by a lawyer who occasionally practices in the courthouse, but does not identify the person. Florida Politics says he is John Phillips. The personal injury lawyer is promoting the petition on Twitter.
