ATLANTA — At Georgia’s iconic Stone Mountain — where the Confederacy is enshrined in a giant bas-relief sculpture, the Ku Klux Klan once held notorious cross-burnings and large Confederate flags still wave prominently — officials are considering what to do about those flags.
The park, which now offers family-friendly fireworks and laser light shows, is readying its “Fantastic Fourth Celebration” Thursday through Sunday, and multiple Confederate flag varieties are still displayed at the mountain’s base.
The display includes the “battle flag” of the Confederacy, said Bill Stephens, chief executive officer of the Stone Mountain Memorial Association. That banner has come under renewed criticism nationwide after the June 17 church massacre in Charleston, South Carolina. The man accused in the case posed for photos with the Confederate symbol.
“I’m from Stone Mountain, and I’ve never liked that it was a place so synonymous with the Klan,” said Shannon Byrne, a 1993 graduate of Stone Mountain High School who regularly hikes up the mountain.
“I feel ashamed that the park would fly the flag,” Byrne added. “The park, of all places, with its history with the Klan, should be even more sensitive.”