Mississippi county board votes to keep Oxford Square's Confederate statue

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Monday night, Lafayette County Supervisors in Mississippi voted unanimously not to move the Confederate statue from Oxford Square.

The vote happened in a meeting where the issue was not on the agenda.

Fox 13 spoke with one supervisor about the vote and to an Ole Miss football player who organized a march to push to remove the statue.

The Lafayette County Board of Supervisors voted not to take down the Confederate statue in Oxford Square. (Google Street View)

According to Ole Miss linebacker Momo Sanogo, the statue paints Lafayette County unfairly.

“It puts a cover of a book or something that we are not a very welcoming community and everything,” said Sanogo. “When that is what you see when you come to visit, what is it that you automatically think?”

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Lafayette County Supervisor Larry Gillespie spoke to Fox 13 by phone about why he voted to leave the statue where it is.

“It really doesn’t have that much relevance to me, but everybody’s perspective is different,” Gillespie said. “From you to the Black citizens of the county that have lived here all their life to the people that have moved here, there’s different perspectives. My vote last night was because I was elected to represent the people that voted for me.”

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Gillespie told Fox 13 he will not be bullied or intimidated into a decision he doesn't think is right. He said the statue issue could possibly go to a referendum.

“I voted for people to take a stand, and there is a democratic process to go through for these type of issues,” Gillespie said. “I think the whole county needs to vote.”

Click here for more from Fox 13.