Calls to remove Tarrant County Confederate marker renewed amid George Floyd protests
Several monuments sit in front of the Tarrant County Courthouse, where protesters have gathered recently.
One of them is a marker dedicated to Confederate war soldiers and their descendants.
Fort Worth attorney Jason Smith on Wednesday renewed his more than year-long call for county leaders to remove that monument.
“Racism still exists in Tarrant County, Texas,” Smith said during a Facebook Live event Wednesday. “The first thing we need to do is tear down symbols and remnants of racism.
“Racism will only stop if we are vigilant and the powers that be take action.”
Protests against racism and police brutality have continued in the Fort Worth area in the wake of George Floyd’s death in the custody of Minneapolis police after an officer pressed his knee into Floyd’s neck for almost nine minutes.
Smith called on Tarrant County Commissioners — who this week said they hope the ongoing protests prompt change — to remove the marker, which was erected in 1953 and was paid for by the United Daughters of the Confederacy.
Tarrant County Judge Glen Whitley said that the monument honors veterans. He said the commissioners court has not talked about removing it.
And he doesn’t know if they should.
“I don’t condone racism,” Whitley said. “But it’s important that we don’t obliterate all traces of it because then we might forget that it actually occurred.
“I don’t think we need to lose sight there was a war about it. We always want to remember it was wrong and eventually we had to fight to right that wrong.”
Crowley school trustee Nedra Robinson joined Smith Wednesday in the call to remove the marker.
“If we are serious about ending and rooting out racism, ... we need to start with the removal” of this type of marker.
“We talk about liberty and justice,” she said. “This is far from it.”
This story was originally published June 4, 2020 at 6:30 AM.
