Dallas Mayor's New Confederate Monuments Task Force Has Mixed Feelings on Statues' Future

Dallas sculptor Barvo Walker adores the statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee that overlooks Turtle Creek Boulevard. And it has nothing to do with Lee."It is one of the finest equestrian statues in the country," said Walker, referring to Traveller, Lee's horse. And for that one reason alone, said Walker, he would like to see the statue "kept where it is because it's such a marvelous piece of art." Walker will actually have a say in the statue's fate. He is among the 20 members who have been appointed to Mayor Mike Rawlings' Task Force on Confederate Monuments unveiled Thursday, just a week before its first scheduled meeting. He will be joined by, among others, an architect, a professor and multiple attorneys, preservationists and a handful of religious leaders.Rawlings and 13 council members appointed the diverse group in the hopes they will direct the City Council on how to go about taking down public Confederate monuments near City Hall and in Oak Lawn. Council member Philip Kingston, who has advocated a competing approach and a different task force, did not appoint anyone.  Continue reading...