TEXANS: “Don’t Mess with Texas’s Monuments”

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Mar 30, 2019
Police stand guard after the confederate statue known as Silent Sam was toppled by protesters on campus at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill, N.C., Monday, Aug. 20, 2018. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)

Texans overwhelmingly oppose the removal of historical monuments, according the a new survey.

In its newest scientific poll of 1,000 Texans conducted by Gravis, 57 percent-to-27 percent of Texans want Confederate monuments to stay. And schools named after General Robert E. Lee? Those can stay too, if 66 percent of those surveyed have their way. Only 22 percent opposed confederate-inspired school names remaining unchanged.

Christopher Ekstrom, the Conservative Response Team’s national chairman, welcomed the survey results:

Texans, including many Democrats, oppose removing Confederate monuments and renaming schools — actions that would be prohibited under legislation currently in the Texas House and Senate.

The issue is one that currently animates the Texas political landscape. A new TV and radio ad makes an appeal to Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick to fight the mounting effort by Democrats to systematically tear down Texas history, saying that he “needs to make this happen … now,”

WATCH: 

Like the survey, the ad doesn’t mention the the iconic Alamo, an 80-year-old, 60-foot memorial to the 189 (or more) men who gave their lives for Texas. And many Texans are up-in-arms about the decision by the scion of the Bush family clan to tear down the monument.

Land Commissioner George P. Bush signed an Alamo redesign plan that includes dismantling and relocating the Cenotaph — memorial to the men who died for Texas liberty.

“Carefully disassemble the structure and conserve all the marble sections in a controlled environment,” the plan reads. “Provide a new structure [non – corrosive assembly instead of reinforced concrete],” it continues.

It’s always best to respect a monument by tearing it apart and moving it somewhere else.

“Several potential locations were considered. The proposed location … will provide appropriate context and symbolism for the structure.”

Other demographics in the Gravis survey  were not as solidly behind protecting Texas history — but margins favoring removal in these groups are still lower than may be expected. Gravis found that African-Americans just 55 percent of African-Americans favor monument removal, with 22 percent opposed. Only 53 percent of African-Americans support renaming schools, while 30 percent oppose that idea.

By strong margins, Hispanics favor historical preservation. A mere 35 percent of Hispanics support monument removal, with 51 percent opposed. 27 percent of Hispanics favor renaming schools, with 68 percent opposed.

And by political affiliation?

Republicans solidly oppose monument removal (8 percent in favor, 84 percent against) while Democrats favor removal by just 44 to 36.

In January, a survey conducted by Atlantic Research found very similar results.

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