This Week in the 904: Mayor Deegan calls Confederate monument fight a ‘manufactured controversy’

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Removing the last remaining Confederate monument is still an issue with City Council.

On Monday night, City Council considered limiting the use of monetary in-kind gifts or donations, which is how Mayor Donna Deegan paid for the removal.

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However, Deegan told Action News Jax’s John Bachman that she wants to move past what she calls a “manufactured controversy.”

“It’s a big issue over a $0 contract that didn’t cost taxpayers a dime, and this manufactured outrage is basically over the fact that we have removed a Confederate monument that was put up during Jim Crow to intimidate Black people,” Deegan said.

Read: This Week in the 904: Both sides discuss implications of newly-filed ‘What is a Woman Act’

Bachman interviewed Mayor Deegan for Sunday’s episode of “This Week in the 904.” She told us before the Senate filed its bill that she wasn’t concerned about the Monument Protection Act filed by Rep. Dean Black in the Florida House. She stands by that, leaving no doubt what she thinks this debate is really about.

“Our state lawmakers are really saying to people, ‘Yeah, we’re going to go back and put these Jim Crow era monuments back up’ because they can say it’s not about Confederate monuments, but there’s not anybody trying to remove a monument of Martin Luther King Jr.,” she explained.

The mayor and Bachman talked about a lot of issues, including the latest on negotiations with the Jaguars on the stadium deal. You can catch the whole interview on Sunday morning on FOX30 and CBS47.

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