To: The Texas State House, The Texas State Senate, and Governor Greg Abbott
Take down statues honoring Confederate leaders and soldiers from state lands
It is time to remove the monuments and statues on state-owned lands that purport to "honor" those who fought to prolong slavery. They are repugnant and have no place on lands dedicated to our public institutions of government and higher education.
Why is this important?
I was born in Texas and have lived here most of my life here, and I've never understood why the lawns of our public institutions are homes for monuments to people who went to war to preserve the heinous practice of buying, owning, and selling the lives, labor, and bodies of fellow human beings.
While it is important to remember our history, giving Confederate leaders and soldiers places of honor on pedestals on state lands is not a symbol of southern pride but rather a symbol of rebellion and racism. University of Texas students have fought the statues on their campus for years, and the statues have been subject to random acts of vandalism and destruction. Other statues grace the hallowed lawns of the Capitol grounds. The Texas Sons of the Confederacy have plans to erect even more pro-Confederacy statues across the state.1 Enough is enough. On the heels of the murder of nine Black people in a South Carolina church by a racist terrorist, it's time to put these symbols of rebellion and racism behind us for good. Maintaining these monuments and statues around the heart of our government and institutions of higher education is an insult to all Texans and all who enter those institutions to rise above the worst moments of our history.
1) Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/09/jefferson-davis-statue_n_7248132.html
While it is important to remember our history, giving Confederate leaders and soldiers places of honor on pedestals on state lands is not a symbol of southern pride but rather a symbol of rebellion and racism. University of Texas students have fought the statues on their campus for years, and the statues have been subject to random acts of vandalism and destruction. Other statues grace the hallowed lawns of the Capitol grounds. The Texas Sons of the Confederacy have plans to erect even more pro-Confederacy statues across the state.1 Enough is enough. On the heels of the murder of nine Black people in a South Carolina church by a racist terrorist, it's time to put these symbols of rebellion and racism behind us for good. Maintaining these monuments and statues around the heart of our government and institutions of higher education is an insult to all Texans and all who enter those institutions to rise above the worst moments of our history.
1) Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/09/jefferson-davis-statue_n_7248132.html