Study: More than 100 Confederate monuments removed since 2015

At least 110 Confederate monuments have been removed in the U.S. since 2015, according to a new report from activist organization Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC). 

The report, released Monday, notes that the June 2015 mass shooting at a black church in Charleston, S.C., that left nine dead sparked a nationwide effort to remove such monuments.

The effort has resulted in Confederate monuments being removed at a rate of three each month. The monuments range from places including schools, roads, parks and other places in the public square.

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The report notes that despite these efforts, there are still more than 1,700 Confederate monuments standing in the U.S.

The 110 monuments being removed represents progress for Heidi Beirich of the Southern Poverty Law Center, who told The Associated Press that “it kind of signifies something monumental.”

“I think people are finally willing to confront the history and come to terms with it,” she added. 

The SPLC conducted this report by using news accounts, tips and crowdsourcing sites that let people make online reports. While the organization lists 1,728 Confederate monuments still standing today, Beirich told the AP that is likely there are more than that.

Debates over Confederate monuments have become extremely heated in recent years.

A rally to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville, Va., turned violent in August leaving one counterprotester dead.

President Trump defended Confederate monuments after the violence in Charlottesville, saying that the “history and culture” of the U.S. is “being ripped apart” with the removal of “beautiful” statues.

Democratic and Republican lawmakers have continually sparred over the meaning of Confederate monuments. In April, Tennessee state lawmakers voted to pull back funds from Memphis after the city’s removal of Confederate statues.