Mitch Perry
A bill aimed at removing the statue of a Confederate Army general representing Florida at the U.S. Capitol cleared its first Florida Senate committee Tuesday.
The Senate Committee on Government Oversight and Accountability passed SB 310, with only Ocala Republican Alan Hays dissenting. The legislation could ultimately lead to removal of a likeness of Gen. Edmund Kirby Smith in the National Statuary Hall at the U.S. Capitol. Each state has two such statues in the collection. The other is of John Gorrie, the father of air conditioning.
The effort to remove Smith’s statue from the hall in Washington evolved this summer amid a renewed backlash against symbols of the Confederacy. That movement started in South Carolina, whose legislature voted to remove the Confederate battle flag from the State House grounds after a white supremacist killed nine black worshipers at a historic black church.
State Sen. John Legg, the sponsor of the Senate version of the bill, said, however, that removing Smith’s statue is something he’s thought about as a schoolteacher for decades since he began taking students to the nation’s capital on field trips.
“Our students would ask questions, and I would make them do research papers on our statues,” he said.
The Pasco County Republican called Kirby a “great soldier … and great Floridian,” but said the fact of the matter is he only lived in Florida until the age of 12, never to return. “His impact on Florida was not significant. He just did not shape Florida’s history.”
Legg said he wasn’t attempting to disparage Kirby, and acknowledged that he still needed to be recognized — just not in the U.S. Capitol.
He also made sure that people recognized his Southern bona fides. “I grew up in a community where the stars and bars outnumbered the stars and stripes. I just think that in our state we look at where we are, and honor some individuals that have an impact for all Floridians to make a better place for our generation.”
Miami Democrat Dwight Bullard floated some names which he said would be worthy of being placed in Statuary Hall.
“Henry Flagler, Margaret Stoneham Douglas and the like, there’s a real possibility of honor(ing) some great Floridians who left an indelible mark on our state, and so I think this gives us a grand opportunity to do so,” he said.
Bullard emphasized that it’s not a matter of trying to eradicate Florida history, but an attempt to acknowledge the “cultural sensitivities” that come with honoring or recognizing members of the Confederacy versus doing things for the entire state.
The bill has a number of committees to pass before coming to the entire House or Senate in 2016. It’s being sponsored in the House by Miami Republican Rep. Jose Felix Diaz.
