GOP State Rep. Mike Hill has put up a video on Facebook defending the Confederate monument in downtown Pensacola:
“I’m Conservative Republican Representative Mike Hill. I’m here to stand in defense of this Confederate Monument,” opens Hill in the 30-second spot. “Those radicals on the left, like Antifa and Black Lives Matter, have demonstrated that all they want to do is destroy, divide and destruct. True American patriots want to build on a success of this nation.”
He adds, “Like President Donald Trump said, ‘You’re not going to rename my military installations,’ you are not going to tear down this Confederate monument. All lives matter. Stand with us.”
The Confederate monument in Lee Square isn’t in his district. In the 2020 legislative season, Hill proposed HB 31 that would have prohibited monuments like the one on the hill on North Palafox Street from ever being removed.The bill died in Criminal Justice Subcommittee on Saturday, March 14. He sponsored similar legislation in 2019 (HB 97) that also was killed in the subcommittee.
This isn’t Hill’s first publicity stunt at the monument. In August 2018, he posted a live video of him standing in front of it with a cheap replica of President Donald Trump’s Walk of Fame Star.
“Okay, Pensacola, I want you to be able to see the Trump star,” said Hill. “As you can see, Pensacola, I have the Trump star. We’re bringing it here to Pensacola. We’re going to lay it here. Trump’s an awesome president, and we’re going to show our support and respect for our president.”
He continued, “Hollywood doesn’t want his star. We want it here.”
Mike won the 2018 House District 1 election, and, of course, the star was never placed in Lee Square.
Ross,
Taking down the monument from public property and relocating it to another place isn’t erasing history. And yes, readers know what to expect from this publication. For 20 years, we’ve fought to make this community better for all its citizens. Hill has consistently been the most ineffective lawmaker in the state legislature. We don’t see that as a good thing.
-Rick
For a leader, being consistent is a good thing. People know what to expect.
Same for this publication, the reader knows what to expect.
Liberals Are Doing What Stalin Did, “Erasing History”
The monument was modeled after the painting After Appamattox and many lessons from history can be pondered . We can learn from the actual humanity of individuals.
“In December 2005 the Virginia Historical Society acquired from Lee family descendants the portable lap desk that belonged to Lee while he lived in the president’s house at Washington College. The desk is currently on display in the long-term exhibition The Story of Virginia. Among the interesting items in the desk is a “cash” book that includes a record, in Lee’s hand, of his salary as president of the college. Although a sword might symbolize Robert E. Lee’s distinguished military service, the desk represents the final chapter of his life—a period in which he dedicated himself to educating young men and reuniting the country that he had so recently fought against.”
But yes, Hill is pandering.
The key sentence here is, “The Confederate monument in Lee Square isn’t in his district.” More importantly, the monument and other “things” that have a connection to the city’s slave-past to include various other monuments like the ones honoring de Luna and Galvez and street names are in the City of Pensacola. By their own admission, many of the people demanding that the monument be taken down do not live in “our” community, i.e. they are not citizens of the City of Pensacola, the people who actually own the monument.
If the city wants to make Pensacola “A City of No Flags” to including not flying any flag associated with slavery on city-owned property, to include the Florida flag that has two stripes honoring the Confederate dead, then let the city’s voters decide the issue in November during the general election. Mayor Robinson can propose that at the city council’s next July 16 meeting. The motion would pass. However the vote turns out, we who live in the city will all learn to live with it. Of course, some people will not like having to change their address when names are changed from those who owned slaves.
What I find especially unsettling about the ongoing “debate” is the lack of concern for what may be real “systemic racism” in nearby places other than the City of Pensacola where I see no evidence of it. As example, the U.S. Census population estimate as of July 1, 2019 found that the City of Gulf Breeze three miles to the south of Pensacola has less than a 1% African-American population. Why is that? How can Pensacola have a 28% African-American population and the adjacent city has less than 1%? The Gulf Breeze City Council is all white and 80% male too. Are there any African-American-owned businesses in Gulf Breeze? When the Gulf Breeze Police Department makes traffic stops, do they disproportionately stop African-American motorists? What has Gulf Breeze done to encourage African-Americans to feel welcome in their city? What does the systemic racism look like in Pace where so many Pensacola Police Officers live or over by the Pensacola Country Club or in Molino or in Perdido Key? I was recently up in Jay for the good part of a day. I do not recall seeing a single African-American person.
Contrary to the claim that we’re all a bunch of racists, the City of Pensacola is a diverse, almost cosmopolitan place. A few days ago, I met a lady in my neighborhood park who moved here from Germany. Before that I met a lady with her kids from the Ukraine. My neighbors are from Mexico and do not speak English. Yesterday, there were a dozen African-American kids playing in the nearby basketball court. No one called the police on them. People need to stop pinning all of the blame for everything on the City of Pensacola. We may be the birthplace of American Slavery (1559) but we’re not the problem now.