ATLANTA — A new statue on the state Capitol lawn shows the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. beginning to take a step forward, his eyes cast toward a street that bears his name and the neighborhood where he grew up.

This King statue has been in the works since 2014, when legislators approved the project, but an unveiling held Monday morning came in the midst of a bitter national debate about Confederate monuments and whether they deserve a place outside courthouses and other prominent public spaces.

The 8-foot-tall statue debuted just weeks after protesters and counter-protesters clashed in Charlottesville over the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue in that Virginia city. A counter protester was killed and several others injured after a man drove his car into a crowd.

But the mood at the unveiling in Atlanta was hopeful, and King’s daughter, Bernice King, said she believes the statue of her father can serve as a salve for a nation in turmoil.

“As many people around this nation are removing and taking down Confederate monuments, it is apropos that today in the state of Georgia — which was once a Confederate state — that we are unveiling a statue to a man who represents liberty, justice, freedom, righteousness and equality,” King said.

She said she hopes that the statue will spark conversations across the nation “on the appropriate ways to represent this nation in our public spaces.”

The statue of King, which is the first erected on the Capitol grounds in two decades, shares the lawn with a Confederate general on horseback, segregationists and also other less controversial personalities, such as President Jimmy Carter. It’s the only statue of a black figure from Georgia’s past.

“It’s great,” said the sculptor, Atlanta-based Martin Dawe, when asked about the diversity that the King statue brings to the state Capitol. “They’re going to be talking at night. It’s going to be a little conversation going on here. I just love it.”

Dawe said he hoped to create a statue that would portray a sense of promise for the future. He said that’s why King is depicted pushing off into a step with his thoughtful eyes warmly looking toward MLK Jr. Drive.

“What would he be thinking if it were 1964 and he knew that street was going to be named after him? That’s a little mind boggling,” Dawe said.

Gov. Nathan Deal said the unveiling, which coincided with the 54th anniversary of the “I have a Dream” speech, shows the “evolved mindset of our state as we continue to reconcile our history and our hearts.”

To many, including House Speaker David Ralston, the tribute to King was long overdue. Previously, King was honored with a portrait at the Capitol, but his image was not found among the busts and statues sprinkled around the statehouse. The statue was privately funded.

“Some of our yesterdays, whether they be 400 years ago, 50 years ago or two weeks ago, are dark and stained with prejudice, hate and evil,” Ralston said.

Ralston, R-Blue Ridge, said he is hopeful that Georgia’s best days are ahead, so long as people are committed to the “peaceful pursuit of righteousness.”

“That’s why it is so fitting that Dr. King’s statue faces the east. This statue will see the dawn of every new day in Georgia,” Ralston said.

One thing that’s on Georgia’s horizon is a state-level discussion about the dozens of Confederate monuments across the state.

A state law, passed in 2001 as part of a compromise to remove the Confederate battle flag from Georgia’s state flag, bars local governments from concealing or moving publicly owned or placed military monuments. There is a growing push to revisit that.

“I don’t know how much resistance there will be,” Senate Minority Leader Steve Henson, D-Stone Mountain, said after the ceremony. “But a lot of people around here are always talking about local control and getting things back to the people, so I think we’ll have a good chance for it to pass and allow those debates to go on in the local community.”

Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed is among those local officials who want to see the state relinquish control over the Confederate monuments. But Reed also said Monday that he didn’t think local governments should use that state law as an excuse to do nothing.

Local deliberations, he said, could help state legislators determine how best to proceed when they return to the Gold Dome in January.

“What’s going on now is the status quo,” Reed said.

Valdosta City Manager Larry Hanson, who attended the unveiling ceremony as a state Department of Community Affairs board member, said the monument debate hasn’t reached Valdosta.

 Hanson described the mood at the ceremony as “refreshing.”

“Given what’s going on in our country, it’s great to see people of all races hugging, celebrating and enjoying this great occasion. We need more of that in this country right now,” Hanson said. 

Jill Nolin covers the Georgia Statehouse for CNHI’s newspapers and websites. Reach her at jnolin@cnhi.com.