Sen. Glazer’s Senate Joint Resolution 15 (2016) (29-3-8 in the Senate on June 30, 2016; 59-7-14 in the Assembly on June 26, 2016) called on the U.S. Congress and the President of the United States to remove the names of Confederate political and military leaders from federal public buildings, parks, and other public places. He is renewing his call in the wake of the white supremacist protest that resulted in the death of three people.

SACRAMENTO  – “I join in the outrage over the white supremacist march in Charlottesville, Virginia. The sight of people carrying torches, swastika banners and Confederate flags – rallying against the removal of a statue of Confederate General Robert E. Lee - was a reminder that we have so much more to do to bring Americans together.  Any movement that includes Nazis, the KKK and white supremacists needs to be treated as a threat to our long-held principles of diversity, equality and opportunity for all. Today's white supremacists are no less a threat to our nation's ideals than the Confederate generals and leaders who waged war on our country in defense of slavery. We must condemn them today and remove symbols honoring the Confederacy from our public places.

“Members of both parties have criticized the President’s tepid reaction to the events in Charlottesville. They should back that up by voting to remove the names of Confederate leaders from federal places. Ten U.S. military bases are named after Confederate leaders; numerous statues of Confederate leaders stand in the U.S. Capitol.

“A full discussion of the Civil War and Confederate military and political leaders should be included in our history books. Our public buildings, squares and other community centers, including our streets, roads and highways, should be named for people and events that honor our country and our democracy. Defenders of slavery should not be given an inch of attention in these places of honor.”

In addition to authoring SJR 15, Sen. Glazer in 2015 proposed banning the naming of state public buildings, parks, schools, highways or roads after political and military leaders of the Confederacy, and requiring their removal from any existing public places. His SB 539 was approved by both Legislative houses and vetoed by the governor, who cited local control concerns. Under pressure from Sen. Glazer, Assemblywoman Lorena Gonzalez, D-San Diego, and others, school districts in San Diego and Long Beach stripped Robert E. Lee’s name from two elementary schools.

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