After the violence in Charlottesville, is America a different place?
That’s the issue that this news report out of Dallas, Texas examines as Dallas has several statues and landmarks that, like the statue of Robert E. Lee in Charlottesville that was the cause of protests there, commemorate soldiers or generals of the Civil War Confederacy.
In Durham, North Carolina, protesters recently toppled a statue there, and there have been calls in other states to dismantle or remove statues related to the Confederacy and/or slavery.
Surprisingly, however, in Dallas, it’s some African-American leaders, including former City Councilwoman Sandra Crenshaw, who wish to see these statues preserved and protected. Specifically, a group of Civil War historians and descendants of veterans have come together to work toward these efforts, despite other leaders of the community (some of whom are white) calling for an inquiry into the possible movement or removal of the edifices.
Currently, City Councilman Philip Kingston is proposing that the monuments in Dallas be barred from public land and be subject to a decision by a city task force regarding their future. For her part, former Councilwoman Crenshaw believes that Kingston’s thinking is misguided. She believes that not all African-Americans speak with the same voice on this topic and that the statues’ removal won’t necessarily accomplish much.
Watch and hear what Crenshaw has to say to CBS affiliate DFW-11’s Jeff Paul.
