It's Time for Allendale to Remove its Confederate Statue

Allendale is home to the only Confederate statue in Michigan, making Allendale the state’s Confederate Capital. This symbol of racial inequality and hatred is located in the  Veteran’s Garden of Honor at Allendale Township Park, and is maintained at taxpayer expense.

Allendale Billboard - Remove the Racist Confederate Statue
Allendale for Equality billboard calls for removal of Allendale Township's racist Confederate statue
Slave child in U.S. Civil War statue
Enslaved child from the Veteran's Garden of Honor U.S. Civil War statue

About Allendale's Confederate Statue

  • The statue is located in the Veteran’s Garden of Honor in the Allendale Township Park in Allendale, MI.
  • It was installed and dedicated in 1998.
  • The Veteran’s Garden of Honor contains statues to honor United States veterans from multiple wars. 
  • The statue representing the U.S. Civil War contains three people: a veteran of the United States of America (U.S.A.), a veteran of the Confederates States of America (C.S.A.), and a Black enslaved child.
  • The veteran of the Confederate States of America stands holding a Confederate flag, back-to-back with the United States veteran who holds a U.S. flag.
  • The Black boy is positioned between the two soldiers, crouching at their feet, without shirt or shoes.
  • In his hands, the Black child holds a document that reads, “Freedom to slaves! Jan 5 1863 AL.” “AL” refers to Abraham Lincoln.

The Statue's Racist Symbolism

  • The symbolism of a Confederate soldier standing with a U.S. soldier presents the soldiers as moral equals, even though the Confederate soldier fought in an attempt to continue enslaving other human beings and engage in human trafficking. 
  • The presence of a Confederate statue and flag in the Veteran’s Garden of Honor gives honor to Confederate soldiers, to the practice of slavery which they fought to preserve, and to the Confederate States of America—an enemy that fought against the United States.
  • The inclusion of a Black enslaved child represents Black people as children who are subservient to white adults.
  • Positioning the Black child at the feet of the soldiers represents Blacks as second class citizens, and honors the system of racial inequality that persists to this day. 
  • It suggests that Black people played no role in establishing their freedom, and instead were at the mercy of white liberators.
  • Placing this statue on government property in a place of honor is official government speech which voices that the Allendale Township Board honors Confederate soldiers, the Confederate flag, the Confederate States of America, and the racism embodied in the Confederacy.
The Veteran’s Garden of Honor should not contain a statue of an enemy Confederate soldier, or one of its victims, for the same reasons that the memorial’s statue of a World War II U.S. veteran does not include a German soldier or a Jewish boy at its feet.

The Statue's False Representation of History

  • Confederate soldiers did not fight for the United States military and are not U.S. veterans.
  • Confederate soldiers were not honorable and did not fight for an honorable cause.
  • The Confederate flag is not a United States flag. It is a flag of the Confederate States of America, an enemy of the United States, and a proponent of slavery.
  • There was no known resident of Allendale Township who was a veteran of the Confederate States of America.
  • Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on January 1, 1863. The date on the document held by the enslaved child is January 5, 1863. This date is historically inaccurate. 

The statue perpetuates the myth of the Lost Cause of the Confederacy. “The Lost Cause of the Confederacy, or simply the Lost Cause, is an American pseudo-historical, negationist ideology that advocates the belief that the cause of the Confederate States during the American Civil War was a just and heroic one.” [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Cause_of_the_Confederacy]

Will removing the Confederate statue erase history as some have claimed? Absolutely not. But it will remove a historically inaccurate symbol of racism from our public park.

Allendale Township Board Supports Symbol of Racism

The Allendale Township Board of Trustees has refused to take action to remove the racist statue despite multiple protests and the majority of citizens at board meetings calling for its removal. By their inaction they are sending a clear message that not everyone is truly welcome—or equal—in Allendale.

Supporters of the statue display a Confederate flag at the Allendale Township Park Veteran's Garden of Honor

Grand Valley State University Statement

In a letter to Allendale Township officials about removing the Confederate statue, GVSU President Philomena V. Mantella wrote: “We have a keen interest in your decision, and while our nation’s history is complex, the harm and symbolism the statue represents to our Black and underrepresented community is real.”

GVSU Kutsche Office of Local History - Deconstructing Confederate Monuments

What You Can Do

Contact the Allendale Township Board of Trustees. Tell them you want the Confederate statue removed and that Allendale needs to be a community where everyone is welcome and equal.

Other Ways to Get Involved

Allendale's Racist Statue in the News

Confederate Statues and Flags in the News

Lincoln and Slave Statue - Boston

ACLU, Public Defenders, NAACP File Federal Court Challenge Demanding Immediate Removal of Racist Confederate Statue from Eastern Shore Courthouse (ACLU Maryland)
https://www.aclu-md.org/en/press-releases/public-defenders-naacp-file-federal-court-challenge-demanding-immediate-removal

Statue of slave kneeling before Lincoln is removed in Boston (AP News)
https://apnews.com/article/marty-walsh-us-news-1bbe10800ca102f9af56a6a04615adb5

House votes to remove Confederate statues from Capitol (Detroit News)
https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/nation/2020/07/22/house-votes-remove-confederate-statues-capitol/112338950/

Robert E. Lee Statue Is Removed From U.S. Capitol (NY Times)
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/21/us/robert-e-lee-statue-us-capitol.html

Mississippi’s Confederate flag is gone — but a legacy of white supremacist policy remains (NBC News)
https://www.nbcnews.com/think/opinion/mississippi-s-confederate-flag-gone-legacy-white-supremacist-policy-remains-ncna1232690

Confederate statues are coming down following George Floyd’s death. Here’s what we know. (CNN)
https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/us/confederate-statues-removed-george-floyd-trnd/index.html

Virginia Military Institute removing Confederate statue (Politico)
https://www.politico.com/news/2020/12/07/military-institute-removes-confederate-statue-443410

Report counts how many Confederate statues have been removed since George Floyd’s death. It’s a lot. (USA Today)
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2020/08/12/george-floyd-confederate-monuments-splc/3356819001/

Congress set to strip Confederate names from U.S. military bases (Georgia Recorder)
https://georgiarecorder.com/2020/12/07/congress-set-to-strip-confederate-names-from-u-s-military-bases/