Thousands of Confederate symbols are standing in public spaces around the nation despite ongoing efforts to have them removed or renamed.
More than 2,000 Confederate symbols, including 685 monuments, are still standing, according to the latest bi-annual report “Whose Heritage?” from the Southern Poverty Law Center. Other symbols include government buildings, schools, military property, and streets and highways named after individuals who have been associated with the Confederacy.
The report, released Thursday, includes data and a map tracking Confederate symbols in public spaces. The fourth installment comes as some states acknowledge Confederate History Month.
“As the Trump administration escalates its efforts to rewrite our history, we cannot let up in telling the whole, true story of our nation,” Margaret Huang, president and CEO of the SPLC, said in a statement.
“Our report explores the tremendous harms of glorifying white supremacy in monuments and memorials, from keeping false narratives of racial hierarchy alive to propping up ongoing systemic discrimination. We need spaces of public memory that capture the full truth of our history, especially the struggle for freedom and civil rights.”
Activists have pushed to have municipalities remove any symbols related to the Confederacy, particularly from schools and federal buildings where many non-white Americans learn and work everyday.
While supporters of the symbols claim such monuments honor Southern history and culture, protesters argue the symbols are racist and divisive.
The Trump administration has taken its own stance on the issue, recently restoring the names of two military bases that honored Confederate generals. North Carolina’s Fort Liberty was reverted back to Fort Bragg, while Georgia’s Fort Moore was changed back to Fort Benning.
The report includes a detailed history of the confederate flag, including how segregationists resurrected it in the 1950s and 1960s in opposition to the Civil Rights Movement and the recent resurgence of its use.
The report also directly links Confederate symbols, including the Confederate flag, to President Trump, pointing to how some of his supporters have flown the flag at his rallies. The report notes that at no point during the Civil War did any Confederate symbol come within six miles of the U.S. Capitol, but during the Jan. 6 insurrection, Trump supporters carried the Confederate flag into the Capitol building.
The report also argues that the Lost Cause mythology — or the idea that romanticizes slavey and claims the Civil War was a fight to preserve Southern culture — has been central to Trump and his supporters.
In 2020, Trump labeled protesters removing confederate statues as an “angry mob” and said the nation was “witnessing a merciless campaign to wipe out our history, defame our heroes, erase our values, and indoctrinate our children.”
He also said the monuments were “statues of our founders” and some of “our most sacred memorials.”
Support for Confederate symbols varies drastically depending on race and party.
A 2024 poll by the Public Religion Research Institute found that 81 percent of Republicans support preserving Confederate symbols, compared to only 30 percent of Democrats.
Meanwhile, 58 percent of white Americans support the preservation of such symbols, compared to only 25 percent of Black Americans.
“We should not honor those who fought to continue slavery and tear apart our democracy,” Huang said. “It’s on all of us to lead efforts in our own communities to promote truth-telling and reconciliation. Our report serves as a tool to support that critical work.”