For attendees at tonight’s city commission meeting, closure is on the horizon on the relocation of the Jefferson Davis Highway Memorial, although it may be distant.
The commission agreed to establish a timeline for relocating the memorial within 18 months and to appoint a Citizens Commission to decide how it will be displayed, as suggested by the Frontera Progressives and the Arte Civico Circle group.
Debbie Nathan, an investigative journalist and author, led the presentation that further showcased the findings of the Race and Racism Forum, held Feb. 27 in the Brownsville Public Library on Central Boulevard.
Nathan presented excerpts from books that centered on the study of white supremacy and the history of organizations, such as the Ku Klux Klan. By doing this, she said she aimed to show the residents just how close to home and prominent the racist origins linked to the statue are.
“Here is an application for a Dallas Ku Klux Klan chapter,” Nathan said. “There were also chapters in Harlingen and San Benito.”
Other findings showed the majority of people do not want the monument to stay in Washington Plaza, according to Mark Kaswan, a UTRGV political science associate professor and member of the Frontera Progressives.
“The clear preference was to move the memorial to the Brownsville Historical Museum with historical context,” Kaswan said. “I want to point out that the preference to move it to the museum was very strong. From a statistical perspective, the next most favorite option was a full integer away, which is a very substantial difference.”
Kaswan said he also believes the movement for change is at the phase where it is ready for a decision to be made.
“With these results we believe the [city] commission has the information it needs to make a decision on how to proceed with [the memorial],” he said. “We believe that with the aftermath of the town hall and the public forum, on top of the 5,000 petition signatures, those who care the most about the memorial have had the opportunity to express their preference.”
Although no action is planned to happen immediately, a deadline of 18 months was set. Kaswan and his associates concluded their presentation by reassuring the residents that their “goal is not to erase our history, but to preserve it within a context that enables us to learn from it.”
In other business, the commission also approved:
–a joint resolution with Cameron County to cooperate on the West Rail Corridor development.
–a contract of service agreement between the City of Brownsville and the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston for $45,000 from March 1 to Sept. 30. Under the agreement, the city will oversee and employ a community health worker to carry out the Tu Salud ¡Si Cuenta! program activities, which includes the promotion of the Supplemental Nutrition Education Program-Education.
