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Michigan town to keep statue of Black child, South soldier

File photo: Protesters stand near a statue of Confederate and Union Civil War soldiers with a Black child kneeling between them in Allendale Township in June 2020.
steve carmody
/
Michigan Radio
File photo: Protesters stand near a statue of Confederate and Union Civil War soldiers with a Black child kneeling between them in Allendale Township in June 2020.
File photo: Protesters stand near a statue of Confederate and Union Civil War soldiers with a Black child kneeling between them in Allendale Township in June 2020.
Credit steve carmody / Michigan Radio
/
Michigan Radio
File photo: Protesters stand near a statue of Confederate and Union Civil War soldiers with a Black child kneeling between them in Allendale Township in June 2020.

Leaders in a western Michigan community have voted to keep a statue of Confederate and Union Civil War soldiers with a Black child kneeling between them.

The Allendale Township board voted 5-2 Monday, despite a recommendation from a group that the statue be replaced by one with Union soldiers who are Black, Native American and white. Dozens of people attended the meeting, which was held outdoors at a park bandshell, 15 miles west of Grand Rapids.

Jody Hansen, township clerk and board member, says a majority of Allendale Township residents want to keep the statue.

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