Confederates on State Grounds

R.G. Ratcliffe, a writer for Texas Monthly Burka Blog, published a post discussing the Confederate statues on the capitol grounds.  Ratcliffe has been writing posts for the Burka Blog since 2011 and has covered a range of topics such as Texas politics, the 82^nd Legislature, and political scandals.  In his most recent post, “Dead Confederates at the Capitol”, Ratcliffe discusses the history and purpose of the Confederate statues on state grounds and targets the general public, especially those who feel strongly about whether the statues should be allowed to remain.

Ratcliffe begins with a short history of how and why these Confederate statues came to reside on the state capitol grounds.  On April 16, 1903, a statue to honor the Confederate war dead was dedicated in a ceremony attended Texans from all over the state.  This monument to honor the dead was a gift to the state from the Camp John B. Hood a division of the United Confederate Veterans.  During a reception following the dedication, former Confederate Postmaster John H. Reagan spoke of how the Confederates “were neither traitors nor rebels, but had been forced to vindicate themselves when the majority in the national Government trampled over their constitutional rights.”  Several days later, Reagan spoke again reporting that “slavery was the occasion but it was not strictly true to say that it was the cause of the war” but rather was caused by sectional jealousy, greed of gain, and lust of political power.  But Ratcliffe then points out that the Texas secession law specifically mentioned the servitude of African Americans.

Ratcliffe questioned whether these Confederate monuments are meant to honor Texans who fought in the Civil War or if they are really a homage to the Confederacy.  In an effort to answer himself, Ratcliffe asks his readers to look at who headed the committee that created the monument, which included former Governor Frank R. Lubbock and Postmaster, who both supported Confederate President Jefferson Davis.  Words inscribed on the monument, which includes “Died for State Rights Guaranteed under the Constitution,” and a listing the number of causalities also provide some insight.

Ratcliffe reflects back on his own experience with the Confederate monument when he first came to work at the state capital.  Ratcliffe mentions how his first impression of the monument was that it is a guise of honoring the Texans who fought in the war and was rather a tribute the Confederacy and its ideas.  With recent events involving Confederate memorials, questions have been raised and people are demanding something be done, whether it be the removal of the statues on state grounds or the continued existence of where they reside.  Ratcliffe offers his own suggestion for a solution: installing a new historical marker that puts the monuments into context rather than tearing down the monuments.  These monuments could be turned into a learning experience rather than being destroyed and taking a piece of history with them.  I agree that we need to preserve these monuments to remember this dark period of our past, but should add new plagues that explain why the statutes were erected and by whom.