On Monday, five Democratic lawmakers wrote a letter to Gov. Greg Abbott requesting to bring the nationwide debate surrounding the removal of the Confederate flag to the Texas Capitol.
The letter addressed to state leaders was signed by state Sen. Rodney Ellis (D-Houston), Rep. Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), Rep. Sylvester Turner (D-Houston), state Sen. Royce West (D-Dallas), and state Sen. Judith Zaffarini (D-Laredo).
“As these debates play out across our country and state, we ask you to consider the Texas Capitol itself: the building in which we have the honor of working on behalf of all Texans,” the letter reads. “The Texas Capitol grounds feature monuments dedicated to the Confederacy, many of which espouse a whitewashed version of history.”
The lawmakers proposed a task force, made up of state leaders, policy makers and educators, to discuss the confederate monuments at the Capitol.
“I think this is important given the national conversation that we are having about race and about our own history,” Joe Deshotel with the Travis County Democratic Party said. “This gives us an opportunity to view that history, and to decide what parts of it we should be honoring, and what parts of it should actually be left in the history books.”
According to the State Preservation Board there are more than 12 confederate references on the Capitol’s grounds. The more obvious references include The Confederate Soldiers monument and The Hood’s Texas Brigade monument, both located on the Capitol lawn. However, other markers, including The Texas Revolution and Civil War Cannon and the Children of the Confederacy Creed, are more discrete.
“As there is a past for the confederate flag, there should also be a future for the Confederate Flag,” Marshall B. Davis, President of the Sons of the Confederate Veterans Texas Division said. “If all things Confederate are removed from Texas, it will not end racism in Texas, it will not end racism in America.”
Davis said his organization is prepared to sit down and discuss the controversial issue with people of the opposing view, rather than removing the monuments and markers completely.
“It seems to be a cleansing of history,” Davis said. “If we forget our history, we are doomed to repeat it.”
Deshotel, who spearheaded the campaign to remove the Jefferson Davis statue from the University of Texas campus, said removing the monuments is not erasing history.
“Anyone who says that we are trying to erase history, I say please go back and actually look at the words of the Confederate leaders like Jefferson Davis who called slavery, ‘the rock on which the union would be split’, and that tells you everything you need to know right there,” Deshotel said.
We reached out to Gov. Abbott and Lt. Gov. Patrick for comment, however neither office released a statement by the time this article was published.
