UNFINISHED TASKS

It might be thought that with the Confederate War Memorial in Pioneer Park being removed that the tasks of de-racializing the Dallas landscape is over.

In fact there is a lot of issues with the Dallas landscape to be dealt with.

I give this brief list.  These are the known issues at this time. More might be discovered. Notice that on the list there is the Hatton W. Sumners Court Room at the Red Museum. This is new.


1. The replica Arlington House in Oak Lawn built to glorify Robert E. Lee and the Confederacy.

This needs to stop being a building to glorify Robert E. Lee and be a location for weddings. Perhaps it could be a museum on slavery in Texas.

2. Many DISD schools named after Confederates and other white supremacists.

There are quite a few schools that need to be renamed.

3. Two minor Confederate monuments in Oak Lawn Park.

One of the monuments is to so-called Black Confederates and makes the city a laughing stock. I had given information on both monuments to the Confederate Monument Task Force, but that farcical body didn't do anything with the information.

4. The whole Fair Park is an assemblage of white supremacist art and architecture.

I have a Word Document and a PowerPoint presentation on this, but both need to be updated. I have discovered that many exhibitions, fairs, expositions, etc. in the early 20th century  are about systems of white supremacy  and futher Art Deco is used in these other events to support white supremacy. I am currently doing reading and then will rewrite the Word Document and do a Power Point.

5. Hatton W. Sumners honored at the Red Museum.

Sumners is a racist monster. He was a leader in the opposition to federal anti-lynching legislation and also was opposed to all civil rights legislation of any type. For more information there is this blog posting.

https://dallaslandscape.blogspot.com/2019/03/hatton-w-sumners-court-room-at-red.html

Turns out that the Texas Tribune took money from the Hatton W. Sumners Foundation in 2018 and not 2019. Their web page was confused. However this blog posting gives a lot of information about him and how the Texas historical establishment has covered it up.

https://dallaslandscape.blogspot.com/2019/02/asking-texas-tribune-to-give-back.html

6. Many streets named after Confederates, white supremacists, and one after Nathan Bedford Forrest.

There are many streets that need renaming. We need to also consider repartions of the landscape. I have done a great deal of research about both names and the struggles to rename streets after minority civil rights leaders. People don't think it is important, but the reality is that these struggles show how fiercely the resistance against the loss of the white landscape is.

This map is from the Dallas County records. When city staff said they couldn't find evidence I had to wonder how hard they looked or who did they depend on. There are Dallas Morning News advertisments which give a "Forrest" address in Dallas.



7. Exclude Lost Cause jurors from Jury duty.

The article with the proposal to exclude from jury duty those who believe in the Lost Cause is online at Black Commentator.

http://www.blackcommentator.com/507/507_confederacy_jury_selection_sebesta_hague_guests_share.html

8. There is the John Neely Bryan monument stone in Pioneer Park. It isn't a tombstone.

9. There is the DISD history books which give the Confederacy a free pass.

There is likely more things to be discovered.

As to where it will all end. I don't know, I suppose when the landscape is deracialized.