GAINESVILLE, Ga. -- The battle over Confederate statues continues in Georgia. Now, a famous statue in Hall County is under scrutiny, but organizers to a protest on Saturday believe they have a solution that can solve the controversy.
The preparation for the protest lasted longer than the protest itself -- with several streets being blocked off leading to the Gainesville Square. There was a heavy police presence and the two groups were divided by a barricade.
"It's not acceptable the way it is, because it's a monument to white supremacy," said Brad Lathem.
Lathem was born and raised in Gainesville. He and dozens of others showed up to protest the statue of Old Joe int he downtown square.
"They were erected to both intimidate both black Americans and as part of the segregationist movement in the early 1900s," he said.
But Lathem says he does not want the statue demolished -- just modified.
"We're not actually asking for it to be taken down. The statue has a lot of history in Gainesville -- including surviving the famous tornado," he said. "We just want the inscription changed so that its no longer a monument to the Confederacy."
Lathem says he believes the community living around Old Joe should determine what the inscription says. He says making updates to Old Joe should be a happy medium -- a way that doesn't erase history but is also inclusive.
"It's just not right," said Richard Whitfield. "There's no happy medium. You either got it or you don't."
Whitfield stood on the other side of the barricade. He says changing a single letter on Old Joe is wrong.
"All the wording on this statue means something to the statue. You do away with the words you do away with the statue itself," Whitfield said. "The statue is to honor fallen soldiers from the Civil War all the way through World War I and World War II -- All the wars -- is what it was put there."
The protest was peaceful, but both sides left with the same opinions they had coming in.
