Focus on this artwork and explore the Vandalism.
The statue was vandalized with red paint on June 17, 2019. The vandal(s) also painted "THEY WERE RACISTS" on the plaque with the names of the 540 Confederate veterans.At the time when the monument was installed, Tennessee had legal racial segregation in public schools, parks and other facilities. African Americans were forbidden to use the public pool at Centennial Park. Twenty-first century opponents of maintaining Confederate monuments have noted the white supremacy of such post-Reconstruction history as part of the context of the installation of the monuments and say they should be removed from public places.
Centennial Park white supremacy