Tracie shot the video above as we protested the Confederate Memorial of the Wind in Orange, Texas yesterday. The man ranting at us was one of just a handful of people who expressed their disapproval of our protest. The overwhelming number of passersby gave us the thumbs up or stopped to share a kind word.
But the Confederate memorial supporter who threatened us is indicative of the people who oppose our efforts.
The video speaks for itself.
You can read more about our efforts on the blog we’ve created to document our campaign, RepurposeMemorial.com.
Despite the pleas of the Orange, Texas city council, local business and religious leaders, the Sons of Confederate Veteran are now displaying Confederate flags at the site, which is located on the Interstate 10 feeder road at Martin Luther King Dr. You’ll note that the Texas flag is also flown with the Confederate flags.
This weekend also marked the debut of the billboard (below) that we crowd-funded there.
It will appear there for a month. Our heartfelt thanks go out to everyone who helped us publish the billboard. We have plans to run another ad in the weeks running up to Martin Luther King Day (January 21, 2019). I’ll be posting our new GoFundMe next week (please contribute and/or share if you can).
Like the man in the video, many of those who oppose our efforts cite “history” as a reason for the memorial to be there, in such a conspicuous location.
We have no issue with history or heritage. There is a place for both in our society.
But this isn’t about history or heritage. It’s about displaying socially unacceptable iconography so publicly (and in manner that makes it appear an “official” representation of the community). It’s about flying the Confederate flag over one of the gateways of a community that is half black. Many of the residents of Orange — white and black — are old enough to remember Jim Crow there. Even more of them are old enough to remember the racist terrorism there in the 1980s and 90s. Too many of them know all to well about the racist aggression that still exists there today.
Why do Tracie and I spend a chilly southeast Texas Saturday protesting the monument? Ask the man in the video…
Thanks for your support and solidarity. Please look out for our next GoFundMe campaign. And please join us for our next protest (December) if you can.
Do Bianchi 
Be careful.
Concerning the Stars and Bars….the Confederate Flag…Lucas McCain said it best;
“This flag…….this flag stands for the bravery of all the men who fought and died under it, and the men who fought against it, only to prove in the end that victor and loser are one and the same, free men in a free country.”
When you forget your history your doomed to repeat it…
*you’re
Thanks for what you’re doing in my hometown. Sorry you have to deal with people like that, who don’t even honor the sentiments of one of their heroes:
“I think it wiser not to keep open the sores of war but to follow the examples of those nations who endeavored to obliterate the marks of civil strife, to commit to oblivion the feelings engendered.”
– Gen. Robert E Lee, on Confederate monumemts
Leave the Confederate flags and Confederate memorials alone there’s nothing wrong with them and I agree with the guy on the video leave things alone as they stand
Sure, then after we leave them alone we can go put some statues of Hitler up in Berlin, New York, Pearl Harbor, and Jerusalem. Sounds stupid right? It would be extremely disrespectful to the Jewish community, wouldn’t it? So why do you think black people want to look at a statue of somebody that wanted to keep people like them enslaved, they wanted to keep human beings as property because of the color of their skin.
Most of these “memorials” were erected in the 1910s – 1920s during Jim Crow era. They were erected as a form of intimidation to keep black people subjugated. This is all written in history books.
Wrong… These are memorials to the memory of dead husband’s, fathers and sons placed there in loving memory by their wives, and daughters.
If you equate the Confederacy with the Nazi regime (your incredibly stupid comment about Hitler statues) then you have already revealed yourself as either a partisan leftist or a moron. Celebrating culture is all about everyone except those you decide should have no culture and no identity. Keep it up. You’ll get what you deserve.
Are you serious? You agree with the lunatic in the video, screaming & swearing at two totally calm people? TAKE YOUR MEDS, lady.
Would it then bother you to also display statues of other heritage heroes such as Stokely Carmichael, Bobby Seal, or Harvey Milk?
Not sure why you group black and gay rights activists together but… it would bother me. It would be incongruous with community values to publicly display a memorial like that on MLK Dr. and I-10. No doubt about it. And the Confederate monument is equally incongruous with community values. But then again, no one is proposing or building a monument with historic black or gay rights activists. Thanks for sharing your insights here.
You need to stop! What happened in history you can not change! Just stop! You can’t erase the past! My daughter was a DARS child! She was very proud of her heritage! Yet she wasn’t racist! It’s not about racism! It’s about honor and facts! Go play in someone else’s sandbox! Not ours !
Treason in defense of slavery is a shameful heritage.
DAR is Daughter of the American Revolution… not the Civil War…on that point…I do not see British flags flying anywhere or Statues of Americans that fought on their side against America…that’s what we are talking about..a army that declared war on AMERICA
Well said!
Here’s some additional exclamation points, just in case you wanted to use them:
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History my ass..the monument was built in 2013
If monument displays factual information then what’s the harm? We all know about America’s use of slavery from our history classes in middle and high school. Know one is saying it was a good thing or a high point in our history. How is the monument saying it’ supports slavery? Yes the confederate states then supported slavery after its succession but they also prohibited the African slave a trade. It was a different time. Similar to how women had little to
no right when compared to men in our history for a long time until legislation was passed.
Can any of you be terminated from your place of employment or refused medical treatment or refused any kind of service? Well I can just because I’m a gay man in Texas. Do you see me complaining no. Because I know like slavery which wasn’t right. This too isn’t right and with time will become a thing of the past. And something to be remembered of how America has become a better place. You can’t compare the present with 200 hundred years ago.
This couple is hate filled. They have one goal to divide a community. The monument has been there for years with zero progression now they want to make it their mission to destroy it… shame on them
What a bunch of losers these two are. He’s an “adjunct professor” and she bakes cookies. Get a real life & leave people alone! You two are disgusting! Hatefilled people who only seek to incite anger & rage on a town . Go away! Be losers in Houston!
You nailed them. Thanks
First, I am sorry that you had to endure that diatribe. That must have been very scary. I’m equally heart sick for the obvious anger and angst the man is feeling in our divided times and that he feels so pushed in a corner he lost control of his humanity. I do not agree with him but that’s not exclusive of feeling bad for all sides in these debates. I am not a resident of your state, or your community as such I don’t want to impose an outsider view on the monument. The protestors of the monument expressly ask to work with the monument builders. Its important to consider that the release and use of this video could cast doubt on this stated wish to solve the issues surrounding it and show the opposition in the worst possible light. Perhaps consider in these polarized times releasing more information on HOW and What proposals you have to illustrate that you are trying to work with the monument builders. If they won’t work with you- publicize that-. I applaud how you did handle this though which is very civally and with calls of understanding and empathy.
To amend what I wrote above- apologies, you clearly are trying to work with the monument builders- I was new to the story. I am so sorry for the hate that you are experiencing. To those who posted insults here and state this couple are just being devisive- please read through what the protestors are saying- repeatedly-Consider its your own issue of having some precious sense of identity- that’s on you- in an age where we must make room, must understand and acknowledge context and history and our communities must reflect that diversity. Reconciliation without acknowledgement will fester.
Sarah, Granvel Block, the person behind this memorial, and the Sons of Confederate Veterans have refused to speak with any of us. He and they have been approached by the Orange City Council, by the Orange Chamber of Commerce, by local business leaders and local pastors… At this point, our only recourse is to show the world that this memorial — on Martin Luther King Dr. no less — does not align with community values. Thank you for your interest and for your comments.