Commissioner Sandra Little Brown thinks it’s time a slave mural placed in a Birmingham courthouse eighty years ago comes down.
During a Tuesday morning committee meeting, Brown called the artwork racist and admitted it has bothered her for years. She believes now is the time for it to be removed, suggesting it would be more appropriately relocated to a museum.
“We’re going to rebrand a new Jefferson County,” said Brown. “It cannot be a new Jefferson County with a 1934 picture of injustice and racism, blacks picking cotton at the feet of white woman. I don’t think the majority of the people in Jefferson County really would want that.”
Commissioners George Bowman and David Carrington support the idea, which means three out of the five county commissioners have now signed on for the change.
Commission President Jimmie Stephens, on the other hand, does not support removing the mural due to its historical relevance. It is his recommendation that they simply add a description underneath the piece to give it context.
His counterparts maintain that minor adjustment isn’t enough.
“The murals project a past image,” Carrington told ABC 33/40. “It’s not an image we celebrate. It is a part of our history. I think it’s about time we put up some new murals that celebrate where we are and where we’re going.”
Groups on both sides of this debate will be presenting to the commission Thursday. Brown says the NAACP and the foot soldiers will be at the meeting. A final decision could be made as early as October.