Lloyd Thompson is happy that the monument will be removed. Wochit


The Caddo Parish Commission voted Thursday to remove the Confederate monument from courthouse grounds where it has stood since 1906.

The vote marks an official turning point for the controversial monument but almost certainly does not mean that it will be moved anytime soon from the Caddo Parish Courthouse at 501 Texas St.

Legal challenges are possible, even likely. The vote was to remove the monument from the courthouse, not to destroy it, and no new home has been decided on. Engineering the monument's removal to ensure that it can be erected intact elsewhere will take time.

The vote was 7-5 for removal.

More: UDC: We had to sue to stop illegal removal of Caddo Confederate monument

Voting for removal were Commissioners Jerald Bowman, Lynn Cawthorne, Stormy Gage-Watts, Steven Jackson, Louis Johnson, Lyndon B. Johnson and Matthew Linn.

"This monument undermines a basic principle, a fundamental law, the 14th Amendment right to due process and justice under the law," Jackson said. "When individuals go to the courthouse, you have a symbol of injustice in front of a place of justice."

Voting against removal were Commissioners John Atkins, Mario Chavez, Doug Dominick, Mike Middleton and Jim Smith.

"There were Daughters of the Confederacy that were 8, 9 and 10 years old when their parents left to go to the war, and when they came back may have been maimed or wounded," Atkins said. "My personal perspective, I don't think they built the monument as a white supremacist act. I viewed it as being out love for their fathers that went to war."

More: Live blog: Caddo Commission discusses Confederate monument

Dominick the decision to remove the monument would waste valuable parish resources and that the resolution, as written, left too many unanswered questions.

"Where are we going to move it? How much will it cost? We don't know," Dominick said. "I believe a large portion of our residents do not want the monument removed and also don't want taxpayer dollars used in a long lawsuit on the removal of the monument."

Lyndon Johnson asked why the commission was moving to postpone a decision at such a late stage in the process.

"Right now we're in the ninth inning, and we want to punt it to the public?" Johnson said. "The people elected us to represent them, to make hard decisions. If we don't do that, there's no reason for us to be here."

Many in the audience stood and clapped when the vote was completed.

Before the vote, commissioners heard from more than 30 members of the public about what should be done with the monument, with frequent outbursts of clapping and "boos" that required Commission President Steven Jackson to call as frequently for order.

Curtis Davis, executive director of Vote-Shreveport, spoke for removal.

"There shouldn't be any monument in front of any courthouse in the world," he said. "We have to at least give the appearance of giving people a fair and impartial trial."

Shreveport resident Ranny Gunn, a descendant of a Confederate solider, spoke in favor of leaving the monument alone.

"One of my ancestors who fought was 14 years old. When they found out his age, they told him to go back, because you had to be 16, but he stayed and fought for what he believed in," Gunn said. "That's a young man who should be remembered."

Three-quarters of the speakers said they favored removing the monument.

Those who favored moving the monument, both Thursday and in the months of community discussion before the vote, said a memorial to the unjust institution of slavery should not stand in front of a courthouse where black citizens must go to seek impartial justice.

Monument opponents also said the monument was a shrine to slavery and to the ideology of white supremacy that supported human bondage.

Those who favored leaving the monument in place spoke of honoring the sacrifices of regular Confederate soldiers and their many descendants and of respecting the history and culture of the South.

They also often noted that to remove the monument would amount to erasing history, and that the Caddo monument marked a spot of true historical significance — where the flag of the Confederacy was lowered for the last time.

MORE:  News, columns, letters about the Caddo Confederate monument

Before voting on the resolution to remove the monument, the commission discussed an amendment to put the question of the monument's fate to a parish-wide voter referendum.

"It's time to give the power back to the people who were voiceless," Chavez said. "Put it on the ballot and let them decide."

The amendment, proposed by Chavez, was rejected on a 7-5 vote.  Commissioners who opposed the motion said they were elected to make "hard decisions" and to represent the people.

"I'm in the position of having to face voters sooner than anyone else," said Louis Johnson, the interim District 12 Commissioner facing a Nov. 18 runoff election. "We are here to represent our districts, and since you have already identified the position of your districts, I cannot support this amendment."

But those who supported it said such a controversial issue deserved to have an individual voice.

"This memorial has stood for 111 years. Every citizen deserves the right to vote,"  Middleton said. "Citizens want us to get to the issue or real parish government and not political ideologies."

In bringing the resolution for removal of the monument to a vote Thursday, a majority of commissioners rejected a compromise proposal put forward by a citizen advisory committee the commission had appointed.

That committee recommended in August that the Confederate monument be left in place, but that it be supplemented with plaques putting the monument in historical context.

It further recommended that two additional monuments be built, at public expense, to memorialize the Reconstruction Era that followed the Civil War and the Civil Rights Movement of the 20th century.  

The resolution failed with a 6-6 vote.

R.J. Johnson, the chair of the committee, spoke during public comments and urged the removal of the monument. 

"Caddo Parish needs to make the national news for the right reasons. This is about reconciling the community," Johnson said. "This vote is an opportunity for us to shed our parish's reputation as 'Bloody Caddo.'"

Gage-Watts also referenced "Bloody Caddo" and Cawthorne noted the "dead legions of African Americans" in their comments prior to the commission vote. 

"I'm not against the monument. I'm saying it's not in the right place. I'm not for destroying it. I'm for moving it to a place where I can tell my children what it means," Gage-Watts said. "It's time for us to remove the curse of Bloody Caddo for blacks who were slaughtered."

Linn said in his comments that while the monument has been on courthouse grounds for more than a century, other removal of Confederate memorials in other cities showed parish residents it was possible.

"Keeping or moving the monument doesn't change history. The pain has been there whether you want to recognize it or not," Linn said. 

Chavez, prior to the vote, encouraged the audience to "show love" to each other when leaving the commission chambers, saying that the world would be watching how Caddo Parish residents treated each other.

Late in the meeting, the commissioners' deliberations were interrupted briefly by a man in the audience, a monument supporter, whose outburst prompted Commissioner Jackson to call for order. The man left the legislative chamber trailed by a police officer.

Cawthorne, in his comments, also said he hoped parish residents didn't miss the true point of the discussions leading up to the vote.

"I hope people don't miss what this is really about, the cleansing, the spiritual healing of this community," he said. "Whether you want the monument up or down, we have to start communicating better with each other."

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