Under the cover of darkness, the University of Texas swiftly removed the statues of Confederate leaders late Sunday night and early on Monday morning. The move came 10 days before fall semester classes begin. The country continues to be mired in the debate over whether Confederate statues should remain standing or removed.
The four statues that were removed on campus included two Confederate generals, Robert E. Lee and Albert Sidney Johnston, Confederate cabinet member John Reagan, and Texas’ 20th Governor James Stephen Hogg. Interestingly enough, Hogg wasn’t part of the Confederacy and was actually a follower of the conservative New South Creed that rejected the old social and economic traditions of the Old South like slavery.
University of Texas President Greg Fenves ordered the removal of the four statues after the violence that took place in Charlottesville, Virginia, that killed Heather Heyer and left dozens of others injured. Fenves said that the statues have become “symbols of modern white supremacy and neo-Nazism.”
Instead of just removing the statues, however, Fenves will move the three statues of Confederate leaders to the Briscoe Center for “scholarly study,” while the statue of Hogg will be considered for re-installation at another campus site.
“The University of Texas at Austin has a duty to preserve and study history. But our duty also compels us to acknowledge that those parts of our history that run counter to the university’s core values, the values of our state and the enduring values of our nation do not belong on pedestals in the heart of the Forty Acres,” Fenves wrote in his email. “We do not choose our history, but we choose what we honor and celebrate on our campus. As UT students return in the coming week, I look forward to welcoming them here for a new academic year with a recommitment to an open, positive and inclusive learning environment for all.”
