The Texas Senate approved a bill on Tuesday that would make it almost impossible to remove Confederate monuments throughout the state.
With the help of the non-profit Conservative Response Team, Texas State Sen. Brandon Creighton pushed Senate Bill 1663 through in a 19-12 party-line vote and later that night the Senate gave ist final approval.
The Texas Tribune said the bill "would require two-thirds of members in both legislative chambers to approve of the removal, relocation or alteration of monuments or memorials that have been on state property for more than 25 years." The tribune adds, "City or county monuments that have been up for at least 25 years could only be removed, relocated or altered if approved by a supermajority of the governing board."
Democrats, including the chamber's only two Black senators, fought ardently against the law. The group argued that it was a transparent attempt to stop the removal of Confederate statues. A number of cities in Texas have made moves to get rid of memorials, plaques and statues honoring Confederate leaders.
During a hearing last month, Creighton railed against his alma mater, The University of Texas, for removing a statue of Jefferson Davis from the school's history department building in 2015. The University of Texas has removed a number of statues and plaques dedicated the Confederacy and slavery specifically. They removed statues dedicated to three Confederate generals in 2017. Furthermore the school removed another plaque honoring the Confederacy in 2016.
“The bill that you’re carrying on the Senate floor today is disgraceful,” said State Senator Borris Miles of Houston. “I ask that you consider some of the pain and heartache that we have to go through — myself and some of the brothers and sisters on this floor of color and what we’ve had to go through as it relates to our Texas history.”
Miles, along with Sen. Royce West of Dallas, are the only two Black senators and gave impassioned speeches begging Creighton to stop the bill. West read from the document written by Texas leaders in 1861 explaining their decision to secede from the United States.
"'We hold as undeniable truths that the governments of the various States, and of the confederacy itself, were established exclusively by the white race, for themselves and their posterity; that the African race had no agency in their establishment; that they were rightfully held and regarded as an inferior and dependent race, and in that condition only could their existence in this country be rendered beneficial' — check this out — 'or tolerable,'" West read.
Black lawmakers from the Texas House of Representatives came to support Miles and West. Right now, local boards, county officials and city councils have power over whether to remove Confederate statues, and many have done so.
An amendment from Sen. Kel Seliger changed the bill a bit so that any monument removal would have to be given the OK by a supermajority of any local council or governing board.
Miles managed to get two amendments added to the bill, one of which would reinstate the State Preservation Board’s advisory committee to review monuments on the Texas Capitol grounds. The other amendment tacked on to the bill would create a committee to examine any artwork that hangs in the Senate. A giant mural of Jefferson Davis hangs prominently in the Senate room.
“There’s two African Americans in this body, and we know the history of Texas and other Confederate states,” West said. “But I want to make certain we don’t leave this floor without recognizing what that history is.”
Now, check these out:
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