Gwinnett Group Of Sierra Club Georgia Chapter Supports Removal Of Lawrenceville Confederate Monument

ATLANTA — The Greater Gwinnett Group of the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter supports the removal of the Lawrenceville Confederate Monument. For too long, the Confederate Monument has celebrated slavery and oppression. Moving forward in the 21st Century, we should ensure that Gwinnett is welcoming to all races, religions, and ethnicities. The Confederate Monument clearly does not make the city and county welcoming to the majority of its population.

The Confederate Monument, erected in 1993, commemorates a way of life that was and is hateful to Black people and other racial minorities. The Confederate monument — along with all Confederate commemorations memorializing that period of our collective pasts — should be removed from public grounds and placed in a museum where they can be seen in an educational setting for children and adults, showing the evils of slavery, causes of the Civil War, and offering a chance for healing and reconciliation.

Dan Friedman, chair of the Greater Gwinnett Group, says, “The presence of monuments commemorating a government and society that enslaved Black people is offensive to the majority of Gwinnett’s citizens and must be removed.”

About the Sierra Club Georgia Chapter

The Sierra Club Georgia Group is the largest grassroots environmental organization in the county, with more than 9,000 members and supporters. The Chapter supports a robust outings program and has active committees working on parks, transit expansion, and clean energy. For more information about the Georgia Chapter, visit sierraclub.org/georgia. For more information about the Greater Gwinnett Group, visit sierraclub.org/georgia/gwinnett.

About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3.5 million members and supporters. In addition to protecting every person's right to get outdoors and access the healing power of nature, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit sierraclub.org.

**Media Contact**
Dan Friedman, Chair, Greater Gwinnett Group
Dan3688@aol.com
404.610.5770