Dallas Leaders Delay Action On Confederate War Memorial
DALLAS (CBSDFW.COM) - The Dallas City Council voted Wednesday to delay any official action regarding the possible removal or demolition of the city's Confederate War Memorial.
The memorial is a 120-year-old public sculpture honoring the leadership of the Confederate States of America, the contingency of states that seceded from the U.S., including Jefferson Davis, Robert E Lee, Albert Sidney Johnston and others.
The city council started reviewing
Confederate monuments on city property after violent conflict erupted in Charlottesville, Virginia over confederate monuments.
Last September, the Dallas City Council voted to remove the city's Robert E Lee bronze sculpture from the city park that also bore the Confederate general's name.
The council approved 9-6 to delay any action on the War Memorial that sits on the southeastern edge of Pioneer Park Cemetery in downtown Dallas. "We need to defer this, and do it right," Councilman Tennell Atkins said, while pushing for the council to vote to defer any action.
Dallas activist John Fullinwider had to be escorted from the council meeting after loudly berating Mayor Mike Rawlings and the council for the delay vote.
A coalition of area faith leaders had urged the council previously to remove the Confederate Memorial from city land.
"The pressure put on this council led them to a decision that they morally knew they had to take, which they are now running away from", attorney Chris Hamilton said. Supporters for maintaining Confederate statues in city parks applauded he council vote. "This is history.
History should not be taken down in any country, at any place, for any reason," Dallas resident Carole Haynes said.
The council is expected to address the issue again in May.
