The General Alfred Mouton statue removed from downtown Lafayette in July has been moved to a new home.
Mouton's monument can now be found at Camp Moore Confederate Cemetery and Museum near Kentwood, Louisiana in Tangipahoa Parish.
Former state senator Elbert Guillory was against the statue's removal to begin with. He told KATC Mouton is his maternal great-great-grandfather — noting that the statue belongs downtown.
"The man, the general and his father, their money, their land, helped found what came to be Lafayette," Guillory said. "I've seen this as part of the national movement to destroy history and to rewrite history or to erase history, which is dumb."
Fred Prejean, president of the racial and social justice organization Move the Mindset, was instrumental in getting the statue removed from Lafayette's city limits.
"They represent marginalizing black people, intimidating black people, promoting white supremacy, all of that, that's what those statues and other iconography, monuments mean," Prejean said.
He noted, however, he still worries there are issues with the new location.
"They are certainly not going to contextualize the statue with people of color showing how they were enslaved," Prejean said.
KATC spoke with folks walking by where the monument once was downtown along the corner of Lee Avenue and Jefferson Street to hear their thoughts.
Aubrey Barnes has lived in Lafayette for over 10 years. He said seeing the statue while it was still standing in the area made him uncomfortable.
"I mean I don't care for being looked over by a slave owner," Barnes said. "That's not very nice, what was it, like 25 feet tall? No."
Robyn McDaniel is a lifelong resident of Lafayette. She said she was never a fan of the monument, but understands why it was moved.
"I do support it being moved considering the history behind it," McDaniel said. "I do think it's still cool that people get to learn about it and educate themselves because we need to be aware of what happened and what people went through, you know, and what other people put people through."
At last check, a flag was supposed to take the place of Mouton's figure in front of Lafayette City Hall, but so far one hasn't been placed yet.
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