‘Curry, stop your hate!’: Confederate banner calls out Jacksonville Mayor over monument removal

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville has been a center of controversy for publicly displayed hate speech and divisive messaging for the last month.

First, an antisemitic remark saying, “Kanye was right about the Jews” was projected onto TIAA Bank Field during the University of Florida and University of Georgia football game back in late October. Then, a couple of weeks ago, a Confederate flag was flown over the Jacksonville Jaguars and Baltimore Ravens pregame with the message “Put the monuments back.” That message was in response to the removal of Confederate monuments around Duval County.

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Jacksonville Mayor Lenny Curry is the latest target in this line of messages, as a Confederate flag with the message “Curry, stop your hate!” was flown over Jacksonville this morning.

Now, city council member Matt Carlucci is speaking out against the act.

“I don’t care for my mayor to have his eye poked over something that he’s trying to do that I agree with,” says Carlucci. “Not only for humanity’s sake, but for economic development’s sake.”

Read: Confederate flag flies again over downtown Jacksonville to protest removal of monuments

Carlucci also cites concerns that the string of controversy developing in Jacksonville could hurt the city economically in the long run, by scaring businesses away from coming to the area.

“Businesses that are wanting to come to a city, are wanting to come to a city where there’s no drama,” Carclucci states. “Particularly when it comes to diversity and inclusiveness. So this will not be beneficial to our city.”

However, city councilman Al Ferraro isn’t concerned about any possible economic repercussions.

“I haven’t had any businesses that have come up and brought up those issues of statues, confederate… that is not being brought up,” Ferraro stated. “It is always being brought up … crime, the conditions of our infrastructure and schools, housing, things like that.”

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While Ferraro says he is not in favor of removing what he considers “historical monuments,” he is in favor of enabling the public to vote on the fate of the remaining Confederate monument. Ferraro says as long as the issue remains unresolved, it only serves to distract from bigger community issues at hand.

“It’s taken us away from talking about the murders that are happening through the city, of this 13-year-old who was just murdered,” Ferraro explained that. “About our roads and our infrastructure, things that we should be spending time on.”

The resolution likely won’t come anytime soon, as Ferraro explained that the city council will have to wait at least another year before revisiting the issue.

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