In the Shadow of the Confederacy:
A Trip to Stone Mountain

April 27, 2006

Those horsemen are, from left to right, Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee, and Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson.. all heroes of the Confederacy. The figures are carved with monumental proportions onto the rock face of Stone Mountain, to the northeast of Atlanta, Georgia. The picture below gives a better sense of the setting.

If there is any standout natural feature in the Atlanta area, it is Stone Mountain. But where I envision a park with foot paths and a preserved natural environment, the idea at Stone Mountain is to fill up the space with as much busyness as possible (this is also reflected in the homepage for Stone Mountain Park). There is a tram to the top of the mountain.. saving people the trouble of hiking. There is a small amusement park with faux historical buildings and quaint shops.. even a Disney-like railroad surrounding the great stone. Then don't forget the Evergreen Marriott Conference Resort, the family campground, and the nearby Stone Mountain Golf Club. I mean, why let natural acreage stand without some commercial improvement? The administrators of Stone Mountain Park clearly understand the logic of that question.

I think the tendency for many would be to discount the extremity of the cultural over-writing at Stone Mountain.. and it is true that there are many examples of this in American life. But the scale of this fantasy landscape here is deeper than anyplace I have encountered, theme parks and Las Vegas excepted. I guarantee that a natural landmark like this would be treated very differently in the West or in the North.. where it would be a State or National Park.

Here two school kids are commandeering a view-finder and using it as a pretend cannon.. all in good fun (I would have done something like that as a kid). What worries me about the experience of Stone Mountain is that there is nowhere a young person could encounter wild nature or anything remotely reflective of the history of the South. In front of these two kids is the portrait of Confederate War heroes.. imposing a monumental human meaning on the natural form of Stone Mountain.. the lawns are manicured and nothing if not safe.. the traditional stores feel like an expanded version of a Cracker Barrel Old-Fashioned Country Store. What is the point of a park if it is not to bring young people into contact with something that challenges their world view? But that is a question whose logic the administrators of Stone Mountain do not understand.

The gift store sold various souvenirs. This wall-hanging I found particularly interesting since Stone Mountain itself is elided.. and the three Confederate leaders stand alone, given the monumental size and stone-permanence of the mountain itself. Looking up from this picture, Stone Mountain looms simply as a sign for Southern values. Stone Mountain is a Confederate Memorial, riding proud above the trees. But what a loss..