Letter to Mayor Rawlings about Pioneer Park

This is the letter I sent by certified mail. The arguments to keep the statue there have been two fold.

1. The statue might be damaged in a move. But it was moved once before in the early 1960s. We have much more advanced technology now in 2017. I think we can move the statue. I think the whole issue of trying to fear monger that there is some risk is just a ploy to keep the monument in place without going on record as defending the Confederacy.

2. In 1966 the Sons of Confederate Veterans asked that the Confederate soldiers buried in the Confederate cemetery be dug up and moved to Pioneer Park. The whole fear mongering and pious heavy breathing over disturbing graves is just another ploy to keep the Confederate monument in place.

Copies of this letter and the Dallas Morning News articles were sent to all 14 city council members.

I would say that the organization Preservation Dallas should change its name to Preservation White Dallas.

                                                                                    October 14, 2017

                                                                                    

                                                                                    edwardsebesta@gmail.com

Mayor Mike Rawlings

City of Dallas

Mayor and City Council City of Dallas

1500 Marilla St.

Dallas, TX 75201

Dear Hon. Rawlings:

There have been three arguments raised in opposition to removing the Confederate memorial at Pioneer Park.

1.       The Confederate monument might be damaged in being removed from Pioneer Park.

2.      There is an alarmist apprehension that graves might be disturbed.

3.      There is an argument that keeping the monument in place is some type of preservation activity.

I think these arguments are pretexts to prevent removal.

In regards to the first and third argument:

The Confederate Memorial was moved there from what was City Park to make way for a highway. This move was praised in that more people would see it and thus the neo-Confederate message of the monument would be more widely received. I enclose an article from the Dallas Morning News, April 16, 1961, page 8. If this monument can be moved for a highway, and it can be moved to promote the Confederacy, I submit that it can be moved because supposedly Dallas doesn’t support white supremacy anymore.

Further this monument was moved in 1961 without problems. In 2017, fifty-six years later, I argue that the technology in almost every field has advanced and it is probably likely that this monument can be moved without damage more easily today than when it was first moved in 1961.

This isn’t a preservation issue in terms of location. It was moved once, it can be moved again.

In regards to the second argument:

I enclose an article from the Dallas Morning News, July 6, 1966, page 12, in which the Sons of Confederate Veterans request that the City of Dallas dig up all the bodies buried at Confederate cemetery and have them moved to Pioneer Park. This is an obvious attempt of promoting the Confederacy through symbolic accretion. Apprehension over disturbing graves seems to be conditional over whether the Confederacy is promoted or not.

I attempted to bring this to the attention of the Public Art Committee of the Cultural Affairs Commission and had a set of articles with a cover sheet but they refused to accept the documents.

                                                                                    Sincerely Yours,

                                                                                    Edward H. Sebesta

CC:

Office	Name	Address	Address
Mayor Pro Tem	Dwaine Caraway	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall
Deputy Mayor Pro Tem	Adam Medrano	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall
District 1 Council Member	Scott Griggs	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall
District 3 Council Member	Casey Thomas II	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall
District 5 Council Member	Rickey D. Callahan	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall
District 6 Council Member	Omar Narvaez	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall
District 7 Council Member	Kevin Felder	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall
District 8 Council Member	Tennell Atkins	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall
District 9 Council Member	Mark Clayton	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall
District 10 Council Member	B. Adam McGough	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall
District 11 Council Member	Lee Kleinman	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall
District 12 Council Member	Sandy Greyson	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall
District 13 Council Member	Jennifer Staubach Gates	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall
District 14 Council Member	Philip T. Kingston	Mayor and City Council	Dallas City Hall