Today, Sunday 4-22-18, this photo was taken today of the Dallas Confederate Memorial.
Is it humanly possible to adequately correct the message of this monument so all the victims of the Civil War, and the Jim Crowe abuse and lynching horrors that followed, are appropriately included? The innocent young men and women on both sides of the war, who were called into battle from their work, or who simply suffered and/or died in the Civil War, certainly were all victims.
The thousands who were abused, with many killed in the 153 years since the Civil War, due to the inhumanity that the Civil War was waged to defend, are also victims! That abuse continues to this day. These victims must be included.
Is such an artistic creation possible? A challenge must be issued to the Dallas arts and history community to unite and correct the message in the Confederate Memorial while honoring all the victims: soldiers, slaves, everyone, both in the 1860's and during the 153 years since the Civil War! A new inclusive understanding is needed. It must be reflected in a re-designed memorial that can include and dominate the current, abusively one-sided memorial.
Maybe bronze sculptures 1.2 times life-size of African Americans responding to the 0.8 size Confederate figures now in the Dallas Confederate Memorial. Their verbal responses could be included somehow. Maybe the data of deaths and destruction of the Civil War. Maybe sculptures reflecting on the lynchings both before and after the Civil War in Dallas that the inhumanity of racism allowed, with the names of those known victims in Dallas. This could become a powerful reflection correcting the inaccurate history reflected in the current Confederate Memorial.
Hopefully is can reflect true progress, acknowledging the suffering and wrongs in the past. Maybe Jane Elkins, probably an ancestor to hundreds if not thousands, many possibly still in Dallas, can be remembered. Her name was lost to history until discovered about 30 years ago when files were found in Dallas court records. She was the first female legally executed in Texas, but probably killed her master defending herself either before or after a rape by him: http://billbetzen.blogspot.com/2017/11/jane-elkins-black-female-about-age-53.html
The above idea has been submitted to the City Council.
Is it humanly possible to adequately correct the message of this monument so all the victims of the Civil War, and the Jim Crowe abuse and lynching horrors that followed, are appropriately included? The innocent young men and women on both sides of the war, who were called into battle from their work, or who simply suffered and/or died in the Civil War, certainly were all victims.
The thousands who were abused, with many killed in the 153 years since the Civil War, due to the inhumanity that the Civil War was waged to defend, are also victims! That abuse continues to this day. These victims must be included.
Is such an artistic creation possible? A challenge must be issued to the Dallas arts and history community to unite and correct the message in the Confederate Memorial while honoring all the victims: soldiers, slaves, everyone, both in the 1860's and during the 153 years since the Civil War! A new inclusive understanding is needed. It must be reflected in a re-designed memorial that can include and dominate the current, abusively one-sided memorial.
Maybe bronze sculptures 1.2 times life-size of African Americans responding to the 0.8 size Confederate figures now in the Dallas Confederate Memorial. Their verbal responses could be included somehow. Maybe the data of deaths and destruction of the Civil War. Maybe sculptures reflecting on the lynchings both before and after the Civil War in Dallas that the inhumanity of racism allowed, with the names of those known victims in Dallas. This could become a powerful reflection correcting the inaccurate history reflected in the current Confederate Memorial.
Hopefully is can reflect true progress, acknowledging the suffering and wrongs in the past. Maybe Jane Elkins, probably an ancestor to hundreds if not thousands, many possibly still in Dallas, can be remembered. Her name was lost to history until discovered about 30 years ago when files were found in Dallas court records. She was the first female legally executed in Texas, but probably killed her master defending herself either before or after a rape by him: http://billbetzen.blogspot.com/2017/11/jane-elkins-black-female-about-age-53.htmlThe above idea has been submitted to the City Council.
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