Guillory issues statement on removal of Gen. Mouton statue
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- Lafayette Parish Mayor-President Josh Guillory issued a statement on the settlement regarding the removal of Confederate Gen. Alfred Mouton's statue from downtown Lafayette. “Our nation has long recognized that we are endowed by God of certain unalienable rights. Many in our nation’s history have fought and died so that this awesome [...]
LAFAYETTE, La. (KLFY) -- Lafayette Parish Mayor-President Josh Guillory issued a statement on the settlement regarding the removal of Confederate Gen. Alfred Mouton's statue from downtown Lafayette.
“Our nation has long recognized that we are endowed by God of certain unalienable rights. Many in our nation’s history have fought and died so that this awesome liberty is realized by all of our people.
The statue in downtown Lafayette is not a statue that honors the valor of the Opelousas-born Confederate general, Alfred Mouton. It is a Jim Crow statue erected 99 years ago to intimidate an entire class of people. The hate of the Jim Crow era does not represent the values of our community, and a statue that glorifies that cause is wrong. We can honor our past and heritage without hurting an entire group of our people.
I am very thankful for all parties involved in this process. I pray for the soul of Alfred Mouton. I pray for the descendants of the Mouton family, and I am thankful for the contributions of Alfred’s grandfather, Jean Mouton, to our city and parish.
We, as a country, are closer now more than ever to recognizing the written goal of our Founders in that all of our people are born equal, and no government at any level in the United States should honor a cause that allowed one group to deny this American birthright to another.
May God be with us, and I ask that He bestow wisdom and blessings upon our great community and nation.”
Lafayette Mayor-President Josh Guillory