PHOENIX – Arizona Secretary of State Katie Hobbs wants a monument to the region’s Confederate troops removed from Wesley Bolin Plaza. The public plaza is adjacent to the state Capitol.
I’m asking ADOA Director Tobin to remove the confederate monument in Wesley Bolin Plaza. Removing this monument isn’t a choice to erase our history, it’s a choice to embrace our future.
I’m grateful for leaders like Rep. @reginaldbolding who have led on this issue in AZ. pic.twitter.com/0HRV34zPEq
— Secretary Katie Hobbs (@SecretaryHobbs) June 8, 2020
In 2017, Gov. Doug Ducey said he would not support tearing down any monuments or memorials in response to demands to do so. Fueled by momentum after the August 2017 Charlottesville riots and the toppling of many Confederate monuments throughout the South, the East Valley NAACP president had hoped the monuments would come down.
Arizona has small memorials around the state:
Phoenix – Arizona Confederate Veterans Monument at Greenwood Memory Lawn Cemetery
Phoenix Confederate Veterans Monument at Wesley Bolin Memorial Park (Capitol)
Sierra Vista – Southern Arizona Veterans’ Cemetery Confederate Memorial
Apache Junction – Jefferson Davis Highway, U.S. Highway 60
Dragoon Springs – Battle of Picacho Peak Marker dedicated to Capt. Sherod Hunter’s Arizona Rangers, at the four graves of the only Confederate soldiers killed in action in Arizona