As it ponders where to put a Confederate plaque, a Texas state board faces backlash for removing it

By Alex Samuels, Texas Tribune


What started Friday as a public State Preservation Board hearing on where to place a controversial Confederate plaque that was recently removed from the Texas Capitol quickly turned into a heated debate over whether the marker should’ve been taken down in the first place.

Two weeks prior, the board voted unanimously to remove the “Children of the Confederacy Creed” plaque, which falsely states that the Civil War was “not a rebellion, nor was its underlying cause to sustain slavery,” from its location near the Capitol rotunda.

The board did not determine a final location for the plaque Friday, but unanimously voted in favor of a motion to temporarily store the plaque in the Capitol collection — which consists of artifacts from the Capitol and state history — and allow a 90-day period for public comment on where the plaque should end up.

Many who testified at the hearing, however, took issue with the fact that the six-member board, chaired by Republican Gov. Greg Abbott, voted in favor of removing the plaque — and did so without seeking public testimony on the matter.

Read more: https://www.texastribune.org/2019/01/25/texas-state-board-faces-backlash-removing-confederate-plaque/