The monument to Confederate soldiers in Ellwood park was erected in 1931 at the height of Jim Crowe and decades after the Civil War. With hate crimes and white nationalism on the rise it is important that we, as a city, take symbolic steps toward the unification of citizens and the denouncement of white supremacy. Amarilloans of color should not be asked to find shade and leisure in a park which contains a monument to those who fought for their continued enslavement. Such monuments belong in museums and textbooks where their lessons can be learned in the proper context, not glorified in our most publicly shared spaces.

There is a difference between respect for our shared history and reverence for it. Let us as a community move forward without glorifying our nations darkest instincts towards hatred and violence.

For these reasons, we urge Mayor Ginger Nelson and our City Council to take immediate action for the removal of the monument from publicly shared space.