Protests across the nation following the death of George Floyd have inspired conversations about removing controversial Confederate monuments. These memorials are a symbol of hate and racism to some people and a venerated Southern heritage to others.

Some of Alabama's elected officials are responding to the public's demands for the removal of these statues. Mobile Mayor Sandy Stimpson ordered the relocation of the Admiral Raphael Semmes statue to the History Museum of Mobile. At the same time, the University of Alabama removed the confederate plaque outside of the Amelia Gorgas Library.

Birmingham's Mayor Randall Woodfin initiated the removal of the Confederate Soldiers and Sailors monument from a public park. The action brought a civil lawsuit filed by state Attorney General Steve Marshall against the city. The lawsuit states the move violated Alabama's monument preservation law and results in a $25,000 fine.

After the south's succession from the rest of the country over the states' rights to enslavement, the northern Union and the southern Confederacy fought from 1861-1865 in the Civil War. Many protestors argue that there should not be monuments commemorating a lost war over the enslavement of black Americans.

There are still active Confederate monuments in the western region of Alabama. Some of these monuments are in Walker, Bibb, Fayette, Hale, and Pickens. Tracking these Alabama monuments is easy using a map online created by the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The Southern Poverty Law Center has tracked Confederate monuments, statues, and memorials across the country. On the SPLC's "Whose Heritage?" map, you can find the Confederate statues in your city and the information about when they were erected.

As Alabama removes more Confederate statues, the list requires some updating. The Southern Poverty Law Center has a form online where you can make these updates to the monuments' active statuses.

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