TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (AP) — The black mayor of Florida’s capital city wants a 135-year-old Confederate monument on the Capitol grounds removed, saying it’s a daily reminder to people of color that racism remains a problem in the United States.

Mayor Andrew Gillum, who is also a Democratic candidate for governor, went to the monument Saturday and talked about how it and others like it around the state are symbols that evoke the pain of slavery, discrimination and racism.

He said growing up in Florida, he saw those symbols every day, but the recent events in Charlottesville, Virginia make it more imperative to remove them. He said white supremacists and neo-Nazis like those who rallied in support of a Gen. Robert E. Lee statue in Charlottesville have turned Confederate symbols into weapons.

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