Through a process that began over four years ago, the people of Brownsville made clear that they want the memorial honoring the President of the Confederate States of America, Jefferson Davis, to be removed from Washington Park.
Christina Patiño HouleAfter a series of meetings to determine the fate of the memorial, that process stalled. Now, as the country once again confronts the legacy of racism and white supremacy and the South confronts its legacy of anti-blackness, the time has come to stop debating and to remove the memorial.
The memorial was given with much fanfare to the City of Brownsville nearly one hundred years ago by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, an organization that was explicitly formed to promote white supremacy. The plaque on the memorial calls Davis a martyr, but Davis was no martyr. Martyrs die for their cause. Davis lived comfortably for another 25 years after the war. And martyrs fight for justice. There’s nothing about slavery that’s just, and there’s nothing about defending the right to own slaves that’s just. The memorial is nothing but a symbol of white supremacy. It needs to be taken down.
The process to remove the memorial has been effectively frozen for the past year. Over two years ago the city stated that it could move swiftly to remove the monument. We call for the monument to be removed from public space immediately. The time for resolution is now.
Mark KaswanRecently we learned that Mayor Mendez and Commissioner Tetreau intend to propose that the memorial be donated to the Brownsville Historical Museum -- our original proposal. However, since we made that proposal our experience with the Brownsville Historical Association has led us to have grave concerns about how the museum would curate an exhibit associated with the memorial. The city must make a clear statement that there is no space in Brownsville for a celebration of Jefferson Davis’s life or anything else having to do with the Confederacy.
Over the past decade cities and states all over the country have been taking down statues, monuments, and other memorials to the confederacy. The governor of Virginia recently announced that the giant statue of Robert E. Lee in Richmond, VA, would be taken down. A number of monuments in New Orleans were recently taken down. States across the South removed the symbol of the Confederate battle flag from their state flags. If these other parts of the former Confederacy can successfully confront their demons, Brownsville can, too. The time to take down the Jefferson Davis memorial is now.
Editor's Note: The above guest column was penned by Mark Kaswan and Christina Patiño Houle. Kaswan is a member of Frontera Progressives. Patiño Houle is part of the group Arte Civico Circle. The guest column appears in The Rio Grande Guardian with the permission of the authors.
Editor's Note: The main image shows the Jefferson Davis Memorial in Brownsville, Texas. (Photo credit: Change.org)
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