A powerful Texas Republican is calling for the removal of a Confederate marker in the state Capitol that rejects slavery as an underlying cause of the Civil War, according to a post on the lawmaker's Facebook page.
Republican House Speaker Joe Straus said Tuesday in a letter to state officials that the plaque is "blatantly inaccurate." He says Texans aren't "well-served by incorrect information about our history."
The plaque titled "Children of the Confederacy Creed" was installed in 1959. It's one of nearly a dozen Confederate monuments and markers around the Texas Capitol.
Straus becomes the most prominent Texas Republican to call for removing a Confederate marker. Republican Gov. Greg Abbott has said doing so won't erase the past.
Last week in Dallas, a Robert E. Lee statute was removed at a park named for the Confederate general.
Below is Straus' full statement:
Today I am sending a letter to my fellow members of the State Preservation Board regarding the Children of the Confederacy Creed plaque on the first floor of the Capitol.
"Confederate monuments and plaques are understandably important to many Texans. But it is important that the historical information displayed on the Capitol grounds is accurate and appropriate. The Children of the Confederacy Creed plaque does not meet this standard. The plaque says that the Civil War was not an act of rebellion and was not primarily about slavery. This is not accurate, and Texans are not well-served by incorrect information about our history."
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"Those of us who serve on the State Preservation Board should direct staff to identify the steps necessary to remove this plaque as soon as practicable. Texans should expect to see an accurate depiction of history when they visit their state Capitol. As I have stated before, I also believe that Preservation Board Staff should study the historical accuracy and context of other symbols on the Capitol grounds. For example, some of the language that explains and describes monuments may need updating. We have an obligation to all the people we serve to ensure that our history is described correctly, especially when it comes to a subject as painful as slavery."
