Robert E. Lee Plaque Removed From Frank Crowley Court House/ Exchange Club has this plaque in public places across the nation

I was on jury duty earlier this week and I was pleased to see that the Robert E. Lee plaque had been removed from the "Freedom Shrine" in the Frank Crowley Court jury room in Dallas, Texas.

We had criticized this plaque being in the jury room in our essay published in the Dallas Morning News. 

https://www.dallasnews.com/opinion/commentary/2017/08/04/dallas-confederate-memorials-scream-white-supremacy

There had been no reporting of it being removed, but when I got there I could see that it was removed and that there were two holes in the wall left from the screws that had held it in place.

This "Freedom Shrine" is distributed by the Exchange Club which is a national organization.

It is a set of plaques with important documents in American history. There is Lincoln's Proclamation of Emancipation and Lincoln's Gettysburg Address. I am sure some members in the past were whining that the South was being put upon and the Exchange Club stupidly added in Robert E. Lee's letter of acceptance to be the president of Washington College.

These "Freedom Shrines" are all across the nation in public buildings and likely in every state in the nation. Removing the Robert E. Lee plaque from a jury room is an obvious thing to do. It can be asked to be removed as being a thing that biases jurors.

Next time you see a "Freedom Shrine" look at it and see if there is a Robert E. Lee plaque included.

The Exchange Club still included the Robert E. Lee letter in their Freedom Shrine display. It is item No. 19 here.

https://members.nationalexchangeclub.org/sites/default/files/attachements/30-PieceFreedomShrineArrangements.pdf

It is also in their 20 piece collection which you can see here. It is item No. 19

https://members.nationalexchangeclub.org/sites/default/files/attachements/20-PieceFreedomShrineArrangement.pdf

Why is the Exchange Club still including Robert E. Lee in a Freedom Shrine in 2018? They are an out of touch white club. I am sure they have some African American members who I am sure will come to their defense.

This could be a starter project for any effort to de-Confederate your city.  A small victory is encouragement to go after larger projects.

Also, each of these plaques in a government building legitimizes the Confederacy and their removal de-legitimizes the Confederacy and Confederate monuments. So removing these plaques also helps in removing other Confederate items.

Most importantly though is that we need to take the Confederacy out of the criminal justice system.

BEFORE AT THE COURT HOUSE

AFTER

CLOSE UP   You can see the drill holes.

Letter to Texas Rep. Eric Johnson about a Children of the Confederacy essay gleefully telling of the slaughter of African American troops UPDATE

UPDATE: I mailed a letter about this Children of the Confederacy essay to Joe Straus, speaker of the Texas House. Today I mail a letter to Texas Governor Abbott about this essay.

I am mailing this letter today. I will be mailing other elected officials in Austin, Texas and I will be letting others know. I will have some extracts of the essay in this blog.

UPDATE2: I sent out a press release to a lot of media in Austin. Next I will be sending out some press releases to media in Dallas.

                                                                                    October 24, 2017

                                                                                    [Address was here.]

                                                                                    edwardsebesta@gmail.com

Texas House Representative Eric Johnson

Room 1N.7

P.O. Box 2910

Austin, Texas 78768

Dear Hon. Johnson:

I applaud your efforts to have the Children of the Confederacy plaque removed from the Capitol building. They are a pernicious organization that is run by the United Daughters of the Confederacy (UDC).

I enclose an essay by a member of the Children of the Confederacy published in the United Daughters of the Confederacy Magazine, March 1960, in which the massacre of African American troops is celebrated and thought humorous.  This article was published just a few months after the Children of the Confederacy plaque was put on the building. I enclosed the cover of the magazine issue, and the table of contents. The article celebrating the slaughter of African American troops is titled, “Hog and Hominy Lick Carpetbaggers.” The UDC though highly enough of this essay to publish it in their magazine.

This essay isn’t an anomaly, but is consistent with the values of the United Daughters of the Confederacy promotes. They have in South Carolina a museum to the violent Red Shirts which they call a shrine. The UDC for decades in the early 20^th century celebrated the KKK as heroes. In the 21^st century they have less directly promoted books that celebrated the KKK as heroes.

My curriculum vitae is online. http://www.templeofdemocracy.com/curriculum-vitae.html. I am published by the Univ. of Texas Press, Univ. Press of Mississippi, peer-reviewed academic journals, last one at Cambridge Univ. I was awarded the Spirit of Freedom medal by the African American Civil War Museum in Washington, D.C.

I have additional information about the Children of the Confederacy and their instruction about the Ku Klux Klan.

I have a lot of research information about the Capitol Confederate monuments also.

                                                                                    Sincerely Yours,

                                                                                    Edward H. Sebesta

Some sections from the article.