Silke Jasso
Last week, New Orleans workers removed a statue of Robert E. Lee.
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In his 23-minute speech on the removal, which has been promised since 2015, NOLA Mayor Mitch Landrieu addressed the issue of censoring history with the latest deconstruction, describing the statue of Lee and three other memorials recently removed around the city as “symbols of white supremacy:”
“I knew that taking these monuments down was going to be tough,” Landrieu said. “But you elected me to do the right thing, not the easy thing, and this is what that looks like. Now is the time to send a new message to the next generation of New Orleanians. A message about the future. A message about the next 300 years and beyond.”
Six hours West, Houston’s own ties to the Confederacy remain, including the “Spirit of the Confederacy” statue dedicated to “all of the South who fought for the principles of states’ rights,” in the middle of Sam Houston Park downtown.
Confederate “war hero” Richard Dowling also has a statue dedicated to his service in Hermann Park, and he is the namesake of Dowling Street.
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Statues, school districts and memorials commemorating Confederate figures remain across the state, including the Austin Capitol Grounds, where there are “at least 12 tributes to the Confederacy.”
Read more about Texas’ Confederate statues and monuments here.
