Public Statement: Why the Stone Mountain Lawsuit Reinforces the Need for Freedmen Governance
- Freedmen Nation
- Jul 13
- 2 min read
A recent lawsuit filed by the Georgia Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans seeks to block the installation of a “Truth-Telling” exhibit at Stone Mountain Park—an exhibit intended to educate the public about slavery, segregation, and the lasting governmental impact of that system within Georgia. The lawsuit argues that truth-telling violates state laws protecting Confederate monuments.
Let us be clear: this lawsuit is not about flags or statues. It is about control over the public interpretation of slavery.
The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust views this legal challenge as a national wake-up call and a strategic confirmation of our mission. The attempt to shut down an educational exhibit—focused on government-facilitated harm—demonstrates exactly why cultural governance and naming rights over slavery-based frameworks must be held by the Verified Freedmen, not organizations connected to the Confederacy or unrelated political interest groups.
The Deeper Threat
This lawsuit is part of a larger pattern of cultural interference:
First, by blocking reinterpretation of Confederate history;
Then, by limiting or prohibiting educational efforts that center governmental harm through slavery, segregation, and state-backed exclusion;
Finally, by asserting legal authority over how the subject of slavery is presented—even when those speaking have direct lineage ties to it.
When cultural interpretation and legal history are determined by entities with no ancestral injury, the narrative becomes distorted, and the injured group is once again rendered powerless—this time under law.
Why This Underscores the Work of the Trust
The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust exists to:
Assert jurisdictional authority over the naming, classification, and cultural framing of U.S. slavery and its aftermath;
Protect the right of Freedmen to define and preserve their own historical experience through verified legal and genealogical structures;
And ensure that public truth-telling and educational integrity are not co-opted by legacy institutions that seek to neutralize or sanitize state-sponsored harm.
This lawsuit is a reminder: interpretive authority must come from the harmed class—not those who wish to preserve the conditions of historical dominance.
What We Call For
We call on:
State institutions and officials to uphold the right to truthfully educate the public without ideological interference;
Museums, exhibits, and memorial commissions to consult with legally organized Freedmen entities regarding cultural governance;
Legal professionals and donors to recognize that defending public education on slavery is directly tied to our broader reparative mission;
And our Freedmen communities to stay focused on enforcement—using declarations, FOIA, and lawful governance to protect the right to define our historical identity and status.
This is not simply about an exhibit. It is about cultural jurisdiction and rightful authority.
About the Trust
The Freedmen Reparations Fund Trust is the official legal and cultural enforcement body representing Verified Freedmen—those with documented lineage ties to chattel slavery in the United States. Our work includes reparative licensing, identity protection, and declaration-based enforcement of historical jurisdiction.
To view our public declarations, visit:
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