Senator Lauren Book (D-Plantation) has again filed legislation to eliminate State recognition of Confederate holidays and to repeal provisions penalizing destruction to or damage of the Confederate flag.
“As a State, we must underscore diversity and undercut tributes to Confederacy, which upheld the institution of slavery,” says Senator Book. “With the hate and divisiveness we’re seeing today, it is more important than ever to condemn racism and reaffirm that we are indeed ‘one nation, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all – not just for some.”
Florida law currently recognizes the Confederate Memorial Day (April 26) as a state-sanctioned holiday, along with the birthdays for Confederate President Jefferson Davis (June 3) and Confederate General Robert E. Lee (Jan. 19). Florida is one of five states that have kept Confederate Memorial Day a legal holiday.
Senator Book first filed legislation to remove Confederate holidays in 2017 following the deadly Charlottesville rally and the emboldened acts of White Supremacists, NeoNazis, and the KKK country-wide. She is refiling it following the January 6 attack on the U.S. Capitol, during which Confederate flags were seen carried and worn by insurrectionists.
