re: The "Davis Monument is History" Argument

Signatures are appreciated.

https://www.change.org/p/mayor-of-the-city-of-brownsville-texas-commissioners-of-the-city-of-brownsville-texas-remove-the-jefferson-davis-memorial

I attended the November 29th Town Hall regarding the Jefferson Davis monument and noticed that a number of speakers, in some form, argued that we should not remove it because of its historical context.

Anyone who has lived in Brownsville for a while has most likely seen the plaques around town. For those who don't know, those are official Texas historical markers, and we have quite a few. This information is available for viewing on the Historical Markers page at Brownsville.org and on the Texas Historical Sites Atlas website. The Jefferson Davis monument is not among them.

The markers, one of which is located at the Brownsville Convention and Tourist Bureau and the other at Alice Wilson Memorial Park, explain how Brownsville was a center of activity during the Civil War but show no support toward the causes of the North or the South.

However, the Davis monument was created to showcase an individual, Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederate States of America and unrepentant white supremacist who fought for slavery. It is revisionist propaganda, created by the Daughters of the Confederacy in an attempt to rewrite the narrative of the South and present an immoral individual in a positive light. Davis' beliefs that Africans were to be seen as "inferior" and "fitted expressly for servitude" have no place in a society where we believe in "liberty and justice for all."

If there's anything we can learn from the historical context of this monument, the person it honors, and the discussions we've had because of it, it's that we should never treat others as property, solely because of their race or skin tone, or for any reason at all. We should not view or present Jefferson Davis as a hero.

We have no reason to memorialize a white supremacist who believed in and fought for slavery. By removing the Jefferson Davis monument from Washington Park AND keeping it out of any public area, we can show other cities that the officials and the people of Brownsville, TX recognize the mistakes of previous generations and hope to never repeat them. We cannot erase the negative parts of our history, but we can learn from them and should always attempt to progress past them.

--------------------------------------------------

This was written for the City Commissioners meeting on 5 December 2017 and submitted as a Letter to the Editor to the Brownsville Herald.

Leaving No Stone Unturned

Signatures are appreciated.

https://www.change.org/p/mayor-of-the-city-of-brownsville-texas-commissioners-of-the-city-of-brownsville-texas-remove-the-jefferson-davis-memorial

With all these news stories focused on Confederate memorials being removed from public parks and college campuses, the question grows. When will the City of Brownsville catch up? An event organizer, going by Ember Phoenix Lumina, created what seemed to be a joke event focused on our own monument to white supremacy. I felt it would be a great opportunity to remind people that it exists, and neo-Confederates are still defending it.

City of Brownsville, TX - Municipal Government, the time to remove the Jefferson Davis monument from Washington Park is now. The Confederacy lost the Civil War 152 years ago, and there is no way that any part of their slavery-supporting heritage can or should return in an age where people of all skin colors should be treated with respect.

Jefferson Davis' belief that the African race should be recognized as "our inferior, fitted expressly for servitude" [1] was discriminatory and only served to maintain equality along white men. [2] As president of the CSA, he led the fight for freedom to own slaves. Even the vice president, Alexander H. Stephens asserted that "As a race, the African is inferior to the white man..." and "The great truth... upon which our system rests, is the inferiority of the African." [3]

Though our city's history is stained by its participation in the Civil War, it is nothing to celebrate, and we have no reason to keep a monument that glorifies someone who was a white supremacist to the end. [4] Not even Confederate general Robert E. Lee would agree with erecting monuments to the leaders of this rebellion, stating that it would only perpetuate the conflict long after the war was over and make it more difficult for everyone to move on. [5] [6] [7]

Local Confederates, some of whom attended a city commissioners meeting in uniform, have called for its relocation to Veterans Park, by the Brownsville Public Library on Central Blvd, and are planning to defend this unnecessary monument at a proposed town hall This is not acceptable. Brownsville public officials cannot pledge allegiance to the American flag before every government meeting while sanctioning the maintenance of a memorial that glorifies a racist who rebelled against the country for which that flag stands.

If anything, the plaque on this rock should be moved to a museum where it can be used for proper education over the events that occurred. As anyone can open a history textbook and read that the Confederacy failed to secede, history is not being erased, as Neo-Confederates and Confederate sympathizers claim.

Make the right choice. Let us progress past this dark time in Brownsville history. Letters to the Editor and messages to our public officials would greatly help the cause.

[1] http://www.nellaware.com/blog/jefferson-davis-resigns-from-the-united-states-senate.html

[2] http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=117:speech-of-jefferson-davis-before-the-mississippi-legislature-nov-16-1858q-where-he-advocates-secession-if-an-abolitionist-is-elected-president-&catid=41:the-gathering-storm

[3] http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=127:alexander-h-stephens-speech-before-the-virginia-secession-convention&catid=40:secession

[4] http://www.confederatepastpresent.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=131:jefferson-daviss-white-supremacy-and-pro-slavery-in-his-memoirs-published-in-1881&catid=38:reconstruction-and-fusion

[5] http://www2.vcdh.virginia.edu/saxon/servlet/SaxonServlet?source=/xml_docs/valley_news/newspaper_catalog.xml&style=/xml_docs/valley_news/news_cat.xsl&level=edition&paper=rv&year=1869&month=09&day=03&edition=rv1869/va.au.rv.1869.09.03.xml

[6] https://www.snopes.com/robert-e-lee-confederate-monuments/

[7] http://leefamilyarchive.org/papers/letters/transcripts-UVA/v076.html

Other posts on this topic:

Emancipation from Old Ways

The MLK Day Created by the People

A Bias Set in Stone

RGV Millennials 2017 Summit

RGV Millennials held their 2017 Summit at the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council building in Weslaco, TX from 9am - 2:30pm. I first heard of the event from a person I met about three weeks ago at a writing workshop (which will be the topic of an upcoming post.) Despite it being out of town, and out of my comfort zone, after asking him a few more questions and reading the event description on Facebook, I grew more inclined to attend. $15 later, I had my seat and group t-shirt reserved.

I didn't arrive as soon as the doors opened, so I can't say much about the "How The Border Works" photograph display other than it sounded like a great way to get potential attendees involved in the days leading to the event. At 9:30am, the co-chairs and founders, Blanca Davila and Alberto Espinoza, welcome us, shortly explained the history and purpose of the group, and led us into the first activity.

We were split into groups and followed a formula to help us "Speak Like A Leader." Three breathless words or phrases to evoke a sense of haste and establish the tone, three statements that emphasize a phrase, another three presenting dualities that balance each other out, a metaphor, an exaggeration, and a rhyme to conclude. It was a different method of writing than I'm used to, but I'll try to post my own example after I finish this post.

After the representatives from each group presented what was written, the co-chairs introduced the 2016 Millennial of the Year, Liz Charles, who gave a recap of her past year's activities before presenting the candidates for the 2017 recipient of the award and announcing the winner as José María Colon-Uvalles II for the work he's done to help the LGBTQ community as well as being involved in demonstrations that stand up for those who are affected by "colonization, racism, xenophobia, homophobia, and misogyny."

Then, we were out for lunch.

After returning, we jumped into "Startup Hour," in which we followed another process to identify a problem, who is being affected, what can be done to improve the situation, where and when action should be taken, and how to inform people that a solution has been implemented. It was less creative than the first activity but just as dependent on communication within the group. There was time for four groups to present their project before the next item on the agenda started.

As much as I enjoyed the event overall, I must say that, while I understand it is customary to allow the host to speak, there was a significant dip in energy once Ron Garza, the executive director of the Lower Rio Grande Valley Development Council, took the mic. Mr. Garza seems like the kind of person with whom I'd enjoy having lunch or coffee and listening to his experiences working for the state and the valley. However, after three hours of constant interaction and collaboration, having to sit and listen to someone speak of their career history and the duties of a development council for forty minutes was not the best way to end an otherwise engaging event, in my opinion. It was all very interesting, just out of place.

Mr. Garza, if this post reaches you, I'd love to meet you for coffee, if you have the time.

RGV Millennials is a group to which I plan devoting some time from here on out. As their welcome statement explains, they have "encouraged our generation to effect change in our community, assume leadership roles, and make their voices heard." They are a group of empowerment, and that is something I feel we should all support.