Confederate statue stays
Galveston County keeps monument in front of courthouse after commissioner’s bid to have it removed fails for lack of support
Galveston County apparently won’t be following the lead of cities and counties that have removed Confederate statues from public places — at least for now.
At a meeting Monday, County Commissioner Stephen Holmes made a motion to remove the statue from in front of the courthouse, but it died when no other commissioner seconded his motion.
“The one thing I think we should agree upon is that the courthouse square is a place that is reserved for civic honor, and to have that statue in the middle of our courthouse square is not indicative of civic honor,” said Holmes, a Democrat and the court’s only African American member. “Because if we have something on the courthouse square that causes dissension and divides people, it clearly states that it’s not appropriate to be in the place where it is.”
The “Dignified Resignation” monument, which includes a statue of a returning Confederate soldier, has stood in front of the Galveston County Courthouse since 1911. A plaque from the Galveston Veuve Jefferson Davis chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy praises the “purity of motives, intensity of courage and heroism” of Confederate soldiers and sailors.
In recent months, Galveston native Isaac Fanuiel IV and others with The Galveston Monument Project have pushed to have the statue removed from the courthouse grounds. Protesters covered it with a white sheet during a recent celebration of Juneteenth, the state holiday marking the day in June 1865 when a Union general read an order in Galveston stating that slaves were free.
Before another county commissioner had the opportunity to second Holmes’ motion to remove the statue Monday, Galveston County Judge Mark Henry asked Holmes where it should be moved to.
“Judge, I think we have to cross the first step, before we get to the second step,” said Holmes. “If you don’t agree that it’s wrong to have it in that place, then there’s nothing I can say to change your mind. If we can’t get past the fact that it should be removed, we can’t decide where to move it to.”
No other commissioner spoke after Holmes made his plea for the statue to be removed.
“The motion will die for lack of a second,” said Henry, a Republican.
Henry did not respond to a request for additional comment Monday.
During public comment, some residents spoke in favor of removing the statue. Others called for it to stay in place.
Joshua Foxworth, said he wants the statue to stay put so he can honor his ancestors.
“The people who want this statue removed, want it removed because it represents a people,” said Foxworth. “The statue’s presence is a reminder of who settled this land, who built this city, this county and this nation. Those people are my ancestors, and I love them.”
Fanuiel, a Galveston native and descendant of slaves, said seeing the statue reminds him of the racial injustices, economic injustices and other disparities happening within the country.
“Walking through those doors, in a lot ways, it tells me that there’s a chance that the government has this lopsided view of a person like me and my history,” said Fanuiel.
“I’m asking you to really open your minds and your hearts, and dig deep to hear the cries of the people.”
Interest in removing or taking down statues that celebrate the Confederacy has grown since George Floyd, a Black man and former longtime Houston resident, was killed while in police custody in Minneapolis on May 25.
Since Floyd’s death, Confederate monuments have been taken down in states such as Alabama, Florida, Kentucky, Virginia and South Carolina. Mississippi lawmakers agreed to remove the Confederate battle emblem from its state flag, and in Houston, two Confederate statues and one of Christopher Columbus were removed over the summer.