Here's How Many Confederate Memorials Still Stand In CA

CALIFORNIA — Nearly two years ago, the murder of George Floyd sparked a powerful social justice movement that prompted the removal or renaming of some 200 Confederate memorials.

In California, 10 Confederate symbols are still standing to date and just 12 memorials or symbols have been removed since the end of the Civil War in 1880, according to a report from Stacker.

Floyd's death on May 25, 2020 ignited a groundswell of activism in small towns and cities in California, which reignited calls to remove monuments idolizing Confederate leaders who enslaved people.

While a plethora of Confederate highway markers and cemetery memorials still remained nearly two years ago, many were eradicated after Floyd's death.

Sequoia and Kings Canyon national parks announced in June of 2020 that all references to Gen. Robert E. Lee would be removed from printed and online materials and exhibits in California.

In Fort Bragg, the California city with the most confederate symbols, proposals were put forth to rename the town, which is named after Braxton Bragg, who enslaved more than 100 people, Stacker reported.

Bragg was one of the most controversial figures in the Confederate army.

Some longtime Fort Bragg residents and the Mayor of the coastal town have decried the notion of changing the community's name.

But the town was named "Fort Bragg" before the Civil War, Turner, whose son-in-law is Black, told the San Francisco Chronicle in 2015.

"Why are we doing this? Because we want to pretend history didn’t happen,” he told the newspaper. “It’s great they pulled down that flag in South Carolina. It was an in-your-face thing that was hateful. But Washington had slaves. Jefferson had slaves. Where do you stop?"

Fort Bragg has four Confederate monuments or symbols, according to Stacker.

Virginia, Georgia and Texas are the states with the most Confederate memorials, according to Stacker.

Read the full report here.