St. Augustine Tea Party’s Take on the Proposal to Remove Monuments

By Jessie Rowan | gargoyle@flagler.edu

One of the St. Augustine statues proposed to be moved downtown.

Around the country and previously implemented in 23 American cities, the debate over the removal of Confederate monuments is in full swing.

According to The New York Times Co., there are more than 19 other cities proposing to remove monuments within public areas around the country, which many believe symbolize and celebrate the dark Civil War era.

Right in our own backyard of St. Augustine lie targeted Confederate statues. Now proposed for removal, the monuments were allegedly brought to the attention by Rev. Ron Rawls of the St. Paul AME Church.

Often seen on St. George Street waving flags, holding political signs or vocalizing their ideals—the St. Augustine Tea Party believes differently with regards to the Confederate monument removal plan.

“We don’t want the landmarks moved,” said St. Augustine Tea Party President, Lance Tate.

In the groups September 20th blog post, the group referred the removal proposal as “a statue rampage” which is tearing down America and deliberately throwing away history. They claim it is to produce chaos with efforts to transform humanity to the radical left’s collective utopian dream which according to the party, is completely un-American.

Lance Tate, President of the St. Augustine Tea Party discusses the recent issue of the proposal to remove confederate statues downtown.

“Not one of those dead men or their statues or monuments have ever hurt anyone. You can take every single one of those monuments down yet that will not change history,” said Patricia Norton, a longtime St. Augustine Tea Party member.

Norton and others of the St. Augustine Tea Party view the monuments as not only a crucial part of American history, but also as a symbol of art. Outraged after the recent debate over the proposal to remove Confederate monuments,Norton decided to join the Daughter’s of the Confederacy.

“The lone individuals, who have stood sometimes for 100 plus years, are suddenly getting attention. Why? Because, the Communists are demanding their demise,” stated within the Tea Party’s September 1, 2017 social media post.

Click below to listen to party members— Patricia Norton and David Heimbold’s take on the situation during the September 26, 2017 meeting in St. Augustine.

“You could say we are backbenchers. We are like dogs biting at the heels of the politicians. We have them jumping around. We pick our battles and we nip at their heels until we get their attention,” said St. Augustine Tea Party Media Chairman, David Heimbold.

The St. Augustine Tea Party feels it is their duty to fight back against radical politicians. The group believes in a small, less intrusive government.

“Socialism works until you run out of other people’s money,” Heimbold said.

The group’s overall purpose is to preserve individual liberty for all.

“We are a civil organization who like to take issues on face-to-face,” Heimbold said.