I had never really been to Stone Mountain before, so I was a bit shocked by the scenery. This is several hundred acres of exposed stone, eroded for 15 million years to expose the surface.

It has since been turned into a Civil War memorial for the South. This is actually quite an historic site, as it is the place where the second generation of the Ku Klux Klan was founded.

Carved into the face, behind Steph and Thorny, are the likenesses of Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson, all heros for the South. The carving is quite impressive in size, as the mouth of Lee's horse could hold a 6 foot man.

This place is also quite the tourist attraction. There are campgrounds, a petting zoo, a railroad tour with a faux train robbery, a skylift up to the top of the rock, a dozen restaurants, another dozen scenic recreations, and enough chutzpah to confuse me entirely.

See, I kept running across references to people who were willing to "die for their cause" or "fight for their way of life", and to be honest, it started rubbing me a little the wrong way. Thorny and I joked around about starting up Supremacy Land, and seeing how many people would flock to our gates. I mean, are we supposed to applaud everyone who fought for an unjust cause? (And don't go into that "The Civil War wasn't fought for slavery" bit... if you read the Articles of Secession, you see exactly why they left the Union!) So what is it that we try and celebrate by venerating these men, if not the cause?

I wonder how the dozens of black people at the park looked at these three faces. Do they see, as I do, the faces of men who would die rather than view blacks as equals? What kind of reaction did the creators hope to get from anyone else besides pro-confederate southerners?

The mountain? Magnificent. The park? Beautiful! The relief carving? Overwhelming!! But the more I wandered that park, the more I felt sick to my stomach. I couldn't understand where the line was drawn so I would venerate those unjust causes worth venerating, and rebuke those that weren't. I think I'll go back and listen some more... maybe I'll figure it out.

I do recommend the park, however... It is quite beautiful, there.
Back to the Pictures Menu