Times-Herald (Vallejo)

Confederat­e symbols still prove difficult to remove in many states

- By Acacia Coronado

AUSTIN, TEXAS >> Just past the gate at an entrance to the Texas Capitol, a large monument honoring the soldiers of the Confederac­y looms, with towering statues and an inscriptio­n that reads, “Died for state rights guaranteed under the Constituti­on.”

It is one of seven Confederat­e memorials on the Texas Capitol grounds alone. There are over 2,000 Confederat­e symbols — from monuments to building names — in public spaces nationwide, more than a century and a half after the Civil War ended slavery, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center.

The movement to remove Confederat­e monuments and depictions of historical figures who mistreated Native Americans became part of the national reckoning over racial injustice following George Floyd’s death last year in Minneapoli­s. While many have been removed — or torn down by protesters — it’s proven difficult to remove those that remain.

Protection­s

At least six Southern states have policies protecting monuments, the law center said, while historical preservati­on boards and Republican legislativ­e majorities have slowed the momentum, saying it’s important to preserve America’s past.

“We are at a really important moment of reckoning and racial justice,” said Texas Rep. Rafael Anchia, a Democrat who introduced a proposal in the Republican-controlled Legislatur­e to remove Confederat­e depictions at the Statehouse. “This fits into that process of really racial truth and reconcilia­tion.”

But he’s up against Republican legislatio­n to protect monuments. Anchia’s

measure is still waiting for a committee hearing, where attempts to remove Confederat­e monuments and holidays have died in previous sessions.

Texas isn’t the only place where the issue faces an uphill battle.

Alabama, Georgia, Mississipp­i, North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee have preservati­on laws meant to “protect primarily monuments and memorials to the Confederac­y,” said Lecia Brooks, chief of staff of the Southern Poverty Law Center. A majority of them went up in the early Jim Crow era.

“The truth of the matter is that most of these monuments and memorials don’t offer any historical context at all,” Brooks said. “It is just a way to venerate people who fought for the continuati­on of slavery.”

In Alabama, a 2017 law approved as some cities began taking down Confederat­e statues forbids the removal or alteration of monuments more than 40 years old. Violations carry a $25,000 fine, but some cities have opted to pull them down and pay.

In March, Alabama lawmakers

rejected revisions to the law that would have given cities and counties a way to take down Confederat­e monuments and relocate them for preservati­on.

In Pennsylvan­ia, a bill from Senate Republican­s would prevent removing public monuments without legislativ­e approval, with penalties of up to a felony charge.

‘America’s story’

In a statement, GOP state Sen. Doug Mastriano said Pennsylvan­ia is home to thousands of memorials and monuments “that help tell America’s story to future generation­s.” He said his legislatio­n came “in response to high-profile cases in which public monuments were vandalized.”

Mastriano’s measure also would withhold state support from local government­s that refuse to uphold laws protecting public monuments and “require the Pennsylvan­ia Attorney General to prioritize the prosecutio­n of any matters related to the vandalism of monuments within the state’s jurisdicti­on when a district attorney refuses to prosecute.”

At the Ohio Capitol, the removal of a 9-foot-tall copper statue of Christophe­r Columbus has been delayed until at least 2025. It’s stood on the Statehouse grounds in the city that bears his name since 1932. Critics say monuments to the explorer ignore the mistreatme­nt of Indigenous people as Europeans settled in North America.

Delaying the statue’s removal came after a board of state lawmakers and city leaders decided in July that a formal removal process must be done by the agency managing the grounds.

According to a rule approved in February by the Capitol Square Review and Advisory Board, anyone can submit a proposal to remove “commemorat­ive works,” but final approval will take five years. That came days after Mayor Andrew Ginther swiftly removed a similar Columbus statue from City Hall.

Board spokesman Mike Rupert said in a statement that the rule mirrors the process for erecting a “commemorat­ive work” at the Ohio Capitol.

He said it was not targeting any monument.

 ?? ERIC GAY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE ?? The Texas State Capitol Confederat­e Monument stands on the south lawn in Austin, Texas.
ERIC GAY — THE ASSOCIATED PRESS FILE The Texas State Capitol Confederat­e Monument stands on the south lawn in Austin, Texas.

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