‘How are they heroes?’ These TX lawmakers want to eliminate Confederate Heroes Day
Democratic state lawmakers on Wednesday called for the repeal of Confederate Heroes Day as a state holiday.
The day honoring Jefferson Davis, who served as president of the Confederate states, Confederate General Robert E. Lee and “other Confederate heroes” has been a state holiday since 1973. It falls on Jan. 19, Lee’s birthday. It often falls in proximity of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which is celebrated each year on the third Monday of January.
“When we talk about what Confederate Heroes Day is, it is a remembrance of a horrible past,” Houston Democrat Jarvis Johnson said. “A past that has done irreparable damage to many of the residents of the state of Texas, and even today for children that are growing up, because it’s a constant reminder of what our past truly was.”
This session marks Johnson’s third time filing a bill to abolish the holiday, but past bills haven’t gained traction in the Texas Legislature.
“It is long overdue that we eradicate this relic of a racist history in our state, in our country, where people fall to keep people who look like members of our caucus enslaved,” said Rep. Ron Reynolds, who chairs the House Legislative Black Caucus. “Think about that for a minute. How are they heroes?”
It remains to be seen whether the bill ultimately becomes law this session, but speakers at the Wednesday press conference were optimistic.
“We believe that this is going to be the year by which we will get this bill passed and eradicate a horrible history that some — not so many, but just simply some — embrace ,” Johnson said.
Jarvis’ bill did not get a committee hearing in 2021. In 2019, it was left pending in the State Affairs committee, chaired at the time by now House Speaker Dade Phelan, a Beaumont Republican. A handful of Republican House members signed on to the bill in 2021, but most did not seek reelection.
Phelan declined to comment through a spokesperson on Wednesday. Requests for comment sent to the offices of Gov. Greg Abbott and Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick were not immediately returned. Craig Goldman, chair of the House Republican Caucus, also did not immediately return texts seeking comment.
Texas is one of 10 states that recognize Confederate holidays, according to Axios.
Johnson was joined Wednesday by Sen. Nathan Johnson, a Dallas Democrat who will carry the bill in the Senate, House Democratic Caucus Chair Trey Martinez Fischer and Mexican American Legislative Caucus Vice Chair Christina Morales, as well as other House Democrats.
“This thing doesn’t belong on our books,” Nathan Johnson said. “It creates divisions, whether we want it to or not, between people. It creates resentment. It causes damage.”
Jarvis Johnson of Houston disputed the notion that Confederate Heroes Day is a reminder of one’s culture or heritage.
“I want to tell you about culture and heritage, because the Confederacy is also my culture and my heritage,” he said.
Johnson, who is Black, said his great, great, great grandfather fought for the Confederacy as a slave owner. That man raped his great, great, great grandmother, who was a slave, Johnson said.
“At no point in my life, at no point in my children’s life, will I ever celebrate that part of my history,” he said. “There is no point in celebrating an individual who created harm and did such harmful things to others. So, the notion that we continue to celebrate that at this time, obviously, is the wrong thing to do.”
Advocates for abolishing the holiday also called attention to recent pushes to eliminate “critical race theory” in the state by Republican lawmakers.
“This very body tells us that we cannot talk about things in our culture, things that we believe, but yet for some reason, the state is sanctioning that we can talk about Confederate Heroes Day so much so that we have a holiday to back it up,” Martinez Fischer said.
This story was originally published January 18, 2023 at 5:03 PM.
