Houston Communist Group Petitions City To Remove Confederate Monument

HOUSTON, TX — The national fever pitch of removing statues and monuments depicting the Confederacy and its warriors has boiled up in Houston since the clash of White Nationalists and counter protesters last weekend in Charlottesville, Virginia. The issue came front and center before the Houston City Council Tuesday, and the city will soon make a decision on what to do next.

The primary focus, right now, is the removal of the "Spirit of Confederacy" monument in Sam Houston Park, with perhaps more in the future. The Houston Young Communist League (YCL) started an online petition at change.org, and they reached more than 1,600 online signatures by Wednesday afternoon.

The YCL states it does not want to erase history, but rather eradicate "attempts to romanticize, praise, and glorify this past." It goes on to say the Confederacy represented treason against the United States.

"The Confederacy represents not only treason against the United States but a system of institutionalized terrorism against non-white people and a militant defense of one of the most brutal forms of chattel slavery to ever exist in human history," it states on YCL's web page on change.org.

"All students should be taught the history of the confederacy and the crimes against humanity for which it stood. We should all be reminded of our past so that we can see the present in its full context."

YCL stated it supports replacing statues with monuments and memorials of Abraham Lincoln, victims of slavery and fallen soldiers of the Union army.

Houston council members Tuesday heard from citizens who demand the "Spirit of Confederacy" monument be removed from the park. Mayor Sylvester Turner directed city staff to look into the statues.

"History has its good," Turner said from the dais. "History has its bad, but I do think it’s important for us to review our inventory and make the appropriate decision."

Council member Jack Christie posed the question that if the Sam Houston Park monument was removed, would that be enough or would there be further demand.

“If we took that (statue) down, would you then want (the) General Sam Houston (statue in Hermann Park removed) next?” Christie asked.

KHOU interviewed various people who would like to see the statue removed, and also one black Texas state representative, James White, who's great-great-great-great-great grandfather, a black man, served in the Confederate army.

"I think our country should honor veterans, all of our veterans," said White, a native Houstonian who now lives in East Texas. "Why would I honor the service of this relative and denigrate the service of another veteran in my family?"

Ashton Woods, leader of the Houston Black Lives Matter movement, said he sees "hate" when he sees the statue.

"I see the 'N' word spray-painted across it," Woods said.

Turner didn't give a timeline on when the city would come to a conclusion, but said he wants to do what's productive.

"It is my hope that we can, in a very positive and constructive way, move forward," Turner added.

Top image: The Spirit of Confederacy statue located in Houston's Hermann Park.

Photo via City of Houston