Bill to bring MLK statue to Capitol grounds introduced with bipartisan support
Ten Commandments bill also gains traction with state lawmakers
- Joeff Davis/CL File
- State Rep. Tyrone Brooks, D-Atlanta, speaks last year in front of the Eugene Talmadge statue at a press conference for the Moore's Ford Bridge Lynching reenactment.
A highly anticipated proposal that could bring a statue of Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. to the Gold Dome has finally been introduced.
The bipartisan bill calls for a statue of the civil rights figure to be placed on the Georgia State Capitol's grounds "as soon as practicable" with the use of private funds.
State Rep. Tyrone Brooks, D-Atlanta, first introduced a proposal before the legislative session started. Brooks' proposal was one of several ideas presented to replace a statue of former Georgia politician and white supremacist Thomas Watson, which was removed from the Georgia Capitol grounds last November after standing in the same place for more than 80 years.
At Ebenezer Baptist Church's King Day service, Gov. Nathan Deal promised that he would find "an appropriate way to honor Dr. King on our Capitol Hill." One month later, Brooks is now joined by Republican state Reps. Larry O'Neal of Bonaire and Joe Wilkinson of Atlanta as well as Democratic state Reps. Calvin Smyre of Columbus, Dee Dawkins-Haigler of Lithonia, and House Minority Leader Stacey Abrams of Atlanta.
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Brooks tells CL he feels "very good" about the reintroduction of the proposal and thinks there's a good chance the bill could pass this legislative session.
"We have gathered overwhelming support since we pre-filed bill in December," Brooks says. "We have received very positive signals from the governor and the lieutenant governor. When Gov. Deal spoke at the Ebenezer Church on King Day he sent a very positive signal throughout the state."
Yesterday afternoon, Deal expressed his support for the General Assembly's commemorative plans for the civil rights hero. He told the AJC: "Everything has its time and its season. I think now may be the season."
The bill doesn't spell out whether the statue will be built in the same place where the Watson monument once stood. Given the forthcoming redesign of the Capitol campus, which Brooks says "will look completely different" once finished, he didn't feel the need to name a specific location in the bill. If the legislation passes, the longtime civil rights activists would start seeking donors to raise cash for the commemorative statue.
Meanwhile, a measure from state Rep. Greg Morris, R-Vidalia, to construct a granite monument with Moses' Top 10 list the Ten Commandments on the Gold Dome's grounds is also moving forward. A House committee yesterday unanimously voted in favor of his proposal that calls for a monument to be inscribed with the preambles to the Georgia and United States Constitutions as well as the Decalogue.
As for calls to create a shrine to former President Jimmy Carter? Those seem to have fallen on deaf ears.