JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A court hearing in Jacksonville’s federal court was held Friday morning to hear testimony in a case that could impact the longtime debate over Confederate monuments on city property.
The 11th Circuit Court of Appeals heard arguments in the case of Earl M. Johnson Jr. v. Mayor Donna Deegan and Gov. Ron DeSantis.
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The lawsuit was originally filed in 2021 during the administration of former Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry, and it argues that the display of Confederate monuments on public property violates the U.S. Constitution and the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
“Walking into a park named after a Confederate is a symbol of white supremacy. It’s a white supremacy message to me, and it’s a disheartening message,” Johnson said.
Johnson sued the City of Jacksonville and the State of Florida for displaying Confederate monuments on city property.
“When I see these tributes, whether it’s Confederate Street or parks named after the confederacy, even counties in our state named after Confederate soldiers and generals, I’m disgusted by it,” Johnson said.
Supporters of Johnson’s push rallied outside the courthouse after the hearing.
“When you know better, you do better,” Kelly Frazier, president of the Northside Coalition of Jacksonville, said at the rally. “We know better now, and it’s time that the city maintains these monumental efforts in being a better Jacksonville and getting the rest of Florida to follow our lead.”
This issue came to a head around five years ago in James Weldon Johnson Park, which was then Hemming Park, during the height of the Black Lives Matter movement in the wake of George Floyd’s death, when many monuments were taken down.
But Johnson has run into problems.
In the lower-level court, it was determined he didn’t have standing to file this case.
During Friday’s hearing, lawyers for both the Governor’s Office and the City argued that the district court was correct in dismissing the case, because Johnson couldn’t specify a specific impact from the Confederate statues.
“If the judgment of dismissal is upheld, I intend to file a writ of certiorari petition to the United States Supreme Court,” Johnson said.
The federal court has approximately two to three months to make a decision on the case.