First Domino falls, San Antonio takes down Confederate monument in Travis Park overnight

The San Antonio city council voted to have the statue removed. The vote was 10 to 1.

http://www.kens5.com/news/local/monument-glorifies-a-lost-cause-council-votes-to-relocate-confederate-statue/469702993

https://www.sacurrent.com/the-daily/archives/2017/08/31/san-antonio-city-council-votes-to-remove-confederate-statue-from-travis-park

The city wasted no time to get the monument removed. The removal was within hours of the vote.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/San-Antonio-removing-Confederate-statue-in-Travis-12165970.php

This is a video footage.

https://www.ksat.com/live/watch-live-confederate-statue-removal-from-travis-park

The city was sued during the debate to prevent the removal of the monument.  Claim was that the city would be violating the free speech rights of the Texas Division Sons of Confederate Veterans and that the city of San Antonio didn't have title to the property. Their attorney was Kirk Lyons.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/City-sued-as-debate-over-Confederate-statue-12163921.php

Now the issue about the title might have some merit. I am sure that the city of San Antonio is looking into it. For something really old records can be lost or the means of possession might have been forgotten. Perhaps the land is on permanent loan or something. I am not saying this is the case, but it isn't unreasonable. I sure the city is doing research now.

The Federal judge refused to issue a stay on the removal. See link below.

http://www.mysanantonio.com/news/local/article/Judge-denies-motion-to-block-city-from-removing-12165180.php?cmpid=artem

So down it went.

The Texas Division Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) has a "WARFRONT" posting on their Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/SCVTexas/posts/1447242635323451

Their web page has a lot of name calling. They must realize that their usual tactic of threats of retaliation at the next election is of little worth. They made a point of having two out of three speakers at their rally for the monument be African American. So now they realize the H.K. Edgerton strategy doesn't really work. The support that they get from right wing publications is of no value, because if Confederate monuments were widely identified with the politics of Breitbart they would likely go down faster.

This is Texas Freedom Force, ("This is" is part of their name), says they are still involved but they are tied up with the hurricane but say they are still involved with the fight to keep Confederate monuments. (See link below.) They say they are going to have a recall effort. I don't think the recall effort is going to have much effect. Even if they remove one or two city council people, and I doubt they will, it still won't get the monument back up. It might highlight how lacking in influence they are.

It strikes me that they are somewhat delusional as to their importance. I don't think they will ever quite realize that they are not representative of mainstream opinion in Texas.

However, I do agree with the speaker that the removal in San Antonio will get other militia groups fired up for the fight. It could be that they really didn't realize how much opinion has turned against Confederate monuments.

https://www.facebook.com/This-Is-Texas-Freedom-Force-1318988724858579/


IMPLICATIONS FOR TEXAS

If you live in Texas you know that a lot of Texans live in a Texas-centric world.

So this is a really important precedent. Also, the fact that it was voted down by 10 to 1.

So in about 12 to 15 months people will wonder why their city hasn't gotten rid of its Confederate monument if it hasn't already done so. Given that the vote by the San Antonio city council was 10 to 1, people will have an expectation that the removal of a Confederate monument should be quick and relatively straight forward. If their city hasn't removed its Confederate monument or in the progress of doing so people in that city will be wondering what is wrong with its city leadership and coming to a realization what type of leadership it is.Others elsewhere in Texas will begin to draw conclusions about what type of city it is. There will be discontent and severe criticism of cities which don't remove Confederate monuments.

So for the cities that are hold outs, there will be  slow process of one monument here, one monument there being removed, showing that a sustained campaign will remove the monuments and encourage the efforts in hold-out cities to continue. It will make hold -out cities seem more aberrant and subject to ridicule.

Now the next key thing is for another monument to fall since that would be the start of a trend. Some officials might hope that San Antonio is just a fluke, but if more cities start removing Confederate monuments, city officials that would hope to avoid the issue, will realize that they just need to get it behind them.

Dallas Mayor Rawlings must be wondering if his whole task force thing is a mistake and city council members are probably realizing that a vote for quick removal is probably a better political strategy. Who wants to be on record as voting for a delaying strategy when city council decides that it is simply time for the monuments to go?

As monuments go down in Texas it will apply pressure for monuments to go down elsewhere. If conservative Texas takes down monuments people will wonder what is wrong with their city if they don't take down Confederate monuments.

I think also that the movement to remove Confederate monuments will continue. Progress might stall in other cities, maybe some national effort will slow it down, but then one city will get a Confederate monument removed and efforts in other cities will be encouraged and pressure will increase on the remaining cities. The issue might quiet down for a week or two, but then in some city the contest will bring to the fore the issue for the nation.

I think we are seeing the neo-Confederacy go up the spout.

This Is Texas Freedom Force working with the Texas Division Sons of Confederate Veterans planning on rally in defense of Confederate statue in San Antonio. Counter protest planned. UPDATE: They are working with people in the DFW area to have a pro-Confederate rally in Dallas.

UPDATE: The This is Texas Freedom Force is evidently working with groups in the DFW area to have a rally for Confederate monuments in Dallas. See my blog posting that follows this one.

http://newtknight.blogspot.com/2017/08/protest-by-reactionary-groups-planned.html#.WYpvZFGGOiM

It seems the contest over Confederate statues is going to be very different than Richmond and New Orleans. It isn't going to be a country club tea party (Richmond) or a simple removal in the face of threats of violence (New Orleans.) 

Texas is a state in transition from a reactionary Republican state to a multiracial Democratic state. We have the issues of immigration and a large Hispanic population. In my daily life I hear Spanish all the time. Reactionary groups here are bonkers over immigration. 

I feel that the situation is potentially explosive. I don't want to be alarmist, but I also feel that I always want to underestimate the potential outcome of a situation. So many people are alarmist on the Internet you can develop an instinctive aversion to saying that a situation is something that people should feel alarmed about. 

So this is what is happening. 

This is the Facebook link for the counter protest event.

https://www.facebook.com/events/1505121909570936/

This is the Facebook link for the pro-Confederate protest. 

https://www.facebook.com/events/1744805639151436/

You can see that they use as their image a combined Texas/Confederate flag. 

This is the Facebook page for This Is Texas Freedom Force

https://www.facebook.com/This-Is-Texas-Freedom-Force-1318988724858579/

This is their web page.

http://www.titff.org/

The Texas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans is planning on giving this event their support, and I think they are planning on giving them their full support.

In this post the Texas Division states that This Is Texas Freedom Force needs to be supported and reposts This Is Texas Freedom Force posting for the rally. 

https://www.facebook.com/SCVTexas/posts/1432226226825092

In this post the Texas Division says that they have 134 members committed to showing up. 

Further they are mobilizing their membership to show and are asking that each SCV camp commander be called to get persons to show up. They hope to double the number of attendees to over 250. The Texas Division is going all out to support this pro-Confederate event. 

https://www.facebook.com/SCVTexas/photos/a.1230244337023283.1073741832.180884138625980/1433104453403936/

What type of group is This Is Texas Freedom Force? 

This photo states "This is how TITFF handles parking lot logistics." Which shows soldiers with machine guns. 

https://www.facebook.com/1318988724858579/photos/rpp.1318988724858579/1392534844170633/?type=3&theater

From their web page pictures I see persons carrying guns and machine guns and persons dressed in fatigues. I am assuming these are members of This Is Texas Freedom Force. 

It is very revealing that the Texas Division SCV is willing to work with This Is Texas Freedom Force. I think it reveals who they are.

Further I think this issue will surface the reality of Texas. 

Letter from the Archdiocese of San Antonio

I got a letter from the Archbishop of San Antonio. The letter opens with the following opening paragraph which was a quote as follows:

"Every type of discrimination, whether social or cultural, whether based on sex race, color, social condition, language or religion, is to be overcome and eradicated as contrary to God's intent." -- Pastoral Constitution on the Church in the Modern World (Guadium et Spes), 29." 

The Archbishop thanks me for the information that I have send and informs me that they will "do our best to never let our sanctuaries be co-opted by any message that stands against the truth of the Gospel of Christ." Doesn't exactly say that they won't let the Sons of Confederate Veterans meet at their churches.

However, as for the Dallas Diocese the Archbishop informs me that he doesn't have "pastorship of those parishes there." The Archdiocese of San Antonio includes Dallas so I don't understand how he doesn't have influence there as to policy. I will have to do a follow up letter.

I do appreciate knowing about "Gaudium et Spes," and will follow up with research concerning it. However a resolution or policy only is of real substance if it is implemented.

I have some more letters to write to Roman Catholic leaders in the United States then if not satisfactory I will be writing Pope Francis. I haven't heard back from the Diocese of Charleston and it has been some time, but I still need to wait for the replies from the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Diocese of Richmond.