Member-only story
Texas Lawmaker files bill to protect monuments to White Supremacy
Local Dallas media swarmed to cover it. People tuned into Facebook Live watching a crane operator figure out the best way to get near the Robert E. Lee statue in what was known then in Downtown Dallas as Lee Park. Lawsuits were filed to temporarily block the decision made by the Dallas City Council to remove the statue that September day . . . and here we are . . . hundreds of thousands of dollars spent on a process that created so much uproar that the State legislature — once again . . . wants to get involved in how cities manage their own properties.
Pat Fallon, a GOP State Senator from Prosper has filed Texas Senate Bill 226 this past Friday to prevent the use of public funds “to remove, relocate, or alter any historical monument or memorial”. While Fallon may want to state to the Dallas Morning News that this impacts all historical monuments the reality is that Fallon’s bill is meant to specifically protect monuments erected in the name of White Supremacy under the guise of “historical preservation.” What is the necessity of this bill except to protect a racist legacy and to continue to allow the State Legislature to undermine local and municipal control.
