Dallas City Council To Consider Removing Confederate Monuments
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The violence in Charlottesville, Virginia has some people in Dallas wondering if it's time for confederate statues to come down in the city.
They're poised to join the call to action for removing public monuments honoring the Confederacy and the Dallas city council is ready to tackle this issue too.
Dallas city council member Phillip Kingston announced efforts Monday to remove a statue memorializing Robert E. Lee in downtown and others like it in the city.
"It has a resolution that states that the position of the city council, is that monuments to the Confederacy should not be on public land," Kingston says.
The Confederate War Memorial, built in 1896, is a monument of honor to those who fought and died to defend slavery on the Confederate side of the American Civil War.
It's located in Pioneer Park Cemetery in the Convention Center District of downtown next to the Dallas Convention Center and Pioneer Plaza.
But for many taking a stroll in the park, differing views about the statues removal abound.
"When I look at it, I don't see a symbol of hate. I see a part of history. If we don't preserve history, we are doomed to repeat it," said one man.
Yet another passerby felt it's time for change.
"Some continue to hold on to their hatred. When I see that, I see nothing but hatred," she said.
History professor Michael Phillips agrees, saying the monuments distort the truth.
"I don't think any African-American parent should have to walk in the shadows of those monuments and explain to their child why a slave owner, those who fought a war to keep them a slave, is being honored in the public space," he said.
The resolution sponsored by councilman Phillip Kingston will require action by September 13. It will create a citizen-based task force to decide on what to do with the monuments.
Mayor Mike Rawlings will hold a press conference Tuesday to speak about the situation.
CBS11 reporter Steve Pickett contributed to this report.
