Local group starts petition calling for the removal of lynching tree – WMBB – mypanhandle.com

MARIANNA, Fla. (WMBB) The Street Philosophy Institute created a petition last week calling for the removal of the Claude Neal tree located in front of the Jackson County Courthouse.

The particular tree being called for removal is the tree where the SPI believes the public lynching of Claude Neal took place back in 1934.

The night before Neal was lynched, he was arrested for allegedly raping and murdering a 19-year-old white woman named Lola Cannady. A group of six men who called themselves the committee of six publicly lynched him and hung him from a tree in front of the Jackson County Courthouse.

Darien Pollock, the founder of the Street Philosophy Institute, originally created the petition to see how many people would sign it. In just two days, the petition received 3,000 signatures according to Pollock. Now, the petition has over 6,000 signatures.

It is not the first time that the trees on the courthouse square have become a topic of discussion, said Wilanne Daniels, Jackson County administrator.

SPI requested their proposal for the removal of the tree be added to next Tuesdays County Commission meeting.

Pollock isnt surprised by the amount of signatures the petition has received because he feels like since the death of George Floyd, the consciousness is prime for the petition because a majority of people have turned their focus toward racial injustices.

The NAACP chapter of Jackson County made their own statement in regards to the petition. The chapter has said they stand with the descendants of Claude Neal and take the position of the Claude Neal tree being preserved and not cut down. The chapter feels the tree can be used as a visual to teach the good and the bad history of Jackson County.

Pollock was disappointed in the chapters response.

So having a lynching tree, is just as much of a symbol of hate, something that we know, we verified that, as a confederate statue, said Pollock. I see no difference.

The proposal for the removal of the Claude Lynch tree is on the meeting agenda for next Tuesdays County Commission meeting. For more information on the next meeting, head to the Jackson County Commissions website.For the full press release from the Jackson County chapter of the NAACP, click the link below.

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Local group starts petition calling for the removal of lynching tree - WMBB - mypanhandle.com