The Atlanta Chapter President of the NAACP did not mince words while objecting to the Soul Fest Concert being held on racist grounds. The weekend event is being held at Stone Mountain Park, which has been called out before for its historical ties to the Confederacy.
The concert is taking place directly below the carving of Confederate generals, honored on the side of the rock. However, according to Fox 5 Atlanta, the NAACP’s Atlanta Chapter President Richard Rose disapproved
and assumed the location would be distasteful,“Stone Mountain Park had one purpose. That was to glorify and celebrate the philosophy of the Confederate States of America.”
The Soul Fest is an annual series that hosts a wide range of artists from traditionally Black music genres, such as Soul and R&B, from across the decades. Noting this purpose, Rose argued that the racist monument would be “sanitized” if allowed to be used for the celebration of Black music, and therefore culture.
However, some attendees were unbothered by the controversial location, one woman even expressing that she hopes the location becomes a mainstay for the event.
“I don’t know if it’s going to be something they do yearly, but I would be here if it is,” shared Wanda Armour to the local news source.
However, the local civil rights group leader is unconvinced that hate can be undone by simply overshadowing it with a supposed unifying event, calling the park a “instrument of hate.”
He continued on, stating that Georgia had plenty of state parks or regular concert venues for the three-day show to be
conducted. Stone Mountain Park did not make a comment on the matter and revealed no plans to remove the carving, which is still used a meeting ground for Confederate Memorial Day celebrations, per 11 Alive News.Despite Rose’s strong words, the concert also did not switch locations, with ticket buyers present for the shows with the carving in full display in the background.