Battle lines drawn over Confederate tribute at Georgia's Stone Mountain

By Rich McKay

ATLANTA (Reuters) -The heroic images of three Confederate leaders carved into the granite face of Georgia’s Stone Mountain have towered over the countryside outside Atlanta since the 1970s, paying silent homage to the Southern cause in the U.S. Civil War.

Its supporters say the monument – often compared with Mount Rushmore – honors those who fought and died for the Confederacy in the 1861-65 war between the states. But detractors have long viewed it as a defiant symbol of white supremacy. They say its messaging needs to be openly acknowledged and put into historical context in the interest of racial justice.

To accomplish that, the Republican-controlled state government authorized $14 million to redesign the museum at the base of the mountain. The aim is to present a more