Our view: A monumental problem in Marion Square

Two tons of Jim Crow-era trouble came crashing down on Charleston’s Marion Square last week.

That’s when a massive granite marker honoring Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee — crafted in 1947 by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC) and bearing the seal of theConfederate States of America — suddenly materialized without public courtesy notice along the King Street side of the park.

Let’s just sit with that for a moment.

A Confederate marker from some of the darkest days of Jim Crow was erected on Charleston’s most iconic and visible commons.. In 2025. A stone’s throw away from Emanuel AME Church, where a racist gunned down nine people 10 years ago.

So much for #CharlestonStrong.

Of course, the real question at this point isn’t “What happened?” — we can all see the huge Confederate marker in the square. It’s “How did this happen in our city?” And the answers we’re getting so far only serve to raise more questions.

For instance, the official story would have us believe that this is all just a private arrangement between the UDC, which had the marker, and the Board of Field Officers of the Fourth Brigade, which owns Marion Square under an 1833 deed that requires it to be used as a public space.

But here’s the problem: Until at least August of this year, the city of Charleston had the Lee marker in storage, after removing it from the Charleston Charter School for Math and Science campus in 2021 at the school district’s request.

So how did the UDC gain possession of the marker in the first place? Good question. And the answer seems to be that City Hall just . . . gave it to the group. Seriously.

Here’s what we know.

In July 2024, the UDC sued the Charleston County School District, claiming the marker’s 2021 removal violated the state’s Heritage Act, which protects monuments to various wars, including, most controversially, the Civil War.

Then, in August of this year, The Post and Courier reported the UDC had dropped — not settled, dropped — its lawsuit against the school district.

Why? Apparently because City Hall turned the marker over to the UDC. Without conditions. Without a vote of city council. And without any legal duty to do so, since the city wasn’t even a defendant in the UDC’s Heritage Act lawsuit.

“The lawsuit was simply withdrawn since we achieved a better outcome,” a spokesman for a so-called “heritage” group that reportedly funded the UDC suit told the paper on Aug. 9.
Well, yes. Taking possession of the marker without having to win in court or even reach a binding legal settlement would be a “better outcome” — for them. But what about the rest of us?

All of which is inevitably going to lead to some very uncomfortable questions for City Hall in the days ahead.

Starting with “What were you thinking?” Followed by “Was City Hall aware of the plan to put it in Marion Square before it voluntarily handed over the marker?”

And ultimately, the question every City Hall hates most: What did the mayor know, and when did he know it?