Dallas

North Texas Billboard Backs Confederate Heritage, Impugns Dallas

A billboard with a pro-Confederate message installed near a small North Texas town is targeting Dallas and, probably, the removal of Confederate monuments in the city though the exact intent is unclear.

The billboard near Kemp, a town of about 1,200 located 40 miles southeast of Dallas, includes the words "I Support Confederate Heritage" and a soldier-like character in a gray uniform urinating on an image of the Dallas skyline.

City officials in Kemp said they don't know who funded the billboard along Highway 175, and, as such, it's not clear what the intent is behind the message.

One could guess, however, that the message has to do with the removal of Confederate monuments in the city.

The Dallas City Council voted 11-4 in February to spend $480,000 to remove the Confederate War Memorial from Pioneer Park Cemetery, a city and state landmark adjacent to the popular Kay Bailey Hutchison Convention Center.

Council members in 2017 voted 13-1 to remove Confederate monuments, including a Robert E. Lee statue from Lee Park.

InForney.com quoted Kemp Mayor Laura Peace saying the billboard was not in their city limits and that they had no jurisdiction in the matter -- but that, "Politics aside, I would think that with a day care across the street most people would be appalled at the vulgarity of a man urinating on public display."

Interestingly, underneath the skyline on the billboard is a "Dallas" logo for the Mavericks basketball team. It's not clear if the Mavericks were an intended target or if the team's artwork was simply used to call out the city by name.

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