These cities and universities have stood up to the Confederacy by voting to move monuments to museums where they can serve as learning tools. As they stood, these monuments glorified hate. These cities do not want to condone slavery any longer. Isn't it time Brownsville stood up to the Confederacy as well? Please vote to move it to the museum. Several Brownsville Historical Association board members are open to accepting the monument. A few board members and employees of the BHA have ties to the Confederacy and may complain. These older gentlemen do NOT represent the views of our nation in the year 2016! New Orleans http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2015/12/confederate_monuments_lee_circ.html Birmingham http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/birmingham-starts-confederate-monument-removal-process-article-1.2277840 St. Louis http://krcgtv.com/news/local/st-louis-mayor-seeks-removal-of-parks-confederate-memorial Baltimore http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bs-md-ci-confederate-monuments-20160114-story.html UT Austin http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2015/08/30/436072805/jefferson-davis-statue-comes-down-at-university-of-texas Texas State - San Marcos https://star.txstate.edu/2016/02/15/confederate-marker-projected-to-be-removed-this-spring/ ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Brownsville Historical Association: Old City Cemetery Coordinator, Eugene Fernandez - threatened to get violent if the city tries to remove it. His family has ties to the Confederacy. We have photo images of his threatening message. https://gregstake.wordpress.com/2014/12/14/eugene-fernandez/ Craig Stone, Education/Program Coordinator - founded the local Confederate group. He interacts with hundreds of BISD children every year. He posts racist and sexist memes every day on his FB page. Is this really the type of person we want teaching our children? http://brownsvilleobserver.blogspot.com/2016/02/new-brownsville-blogger-finds-hints-of.html Javier Garcia, KBRO, Bronsbil Estacion - serves as a tour guide sometimes. He also referred to young women who support this cause as the "P" word in both English and Spanish. This vulgar word is used in reference to the female genitalia. We also have proof of this. http://bronsbilestacion.blogspot.com/2015/07/brownsville-high-school-and-palm-blvd.html James "Jim" Mills - VP of the BHA, has used his position at UTRGV to bash this cause. UTRGV has distanced itself from him by stating that he does not speak for the university. He has stated that this is "political correctness gone wild". http://www.brownsvilleherald.com/news/local/article_c04aa352-bd9b-11e5-b95a-8b48427ce181.html We are currently working on reforming the BHA as well. There is a difference between preserving history and honoring those who oppressed fellow Americans. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ The cities listed above have been sued by Neo-Confederate groups. The Confederate groups easily lost in court. Please don't surrender to their threats. A list of community leaders and business owners who support our cause can be given to you if requested. Lots of people in Brownsville understand that keeping this memorial of Jefferson Davis at Washington Park is a reflection of the city. It's as if the city is condoning slavery. Currently, the park also has memorials of Jose Marti and Miguel Hidalgo. They were both liberators. Davis was the opposite. He fought to keep Americans enslaved. We are available to speak to you about this issue. Feel free to email or call us to schedule a meeting. If moving it is costly, the city can easily vote to return the gift to the Daughters of the Confederacy. If it's not claimed after a certain time period, citizens can volunteer to remove it. Ideally, moving it to the museum would work for all parties involved. Please don't ignore this cause. We need to move Brownsville forward. Thank you Antonio Castillo