Petition to Remove the Confederate Statue and Pedestal from the Williamson County Courthouse

Who are we?

Wilco Patriots is a group of concerned citizens of Williamson County, TX committed to supporting racial equity. Our work includes taking action to hold local political and government leaders accountable to racial equity and the legacy of systemic racism. 

Why do we want to remove the Confederate statue and pedestal from the Williamson County Courthouse?

The Confederate memorial at the historic Williamson County Courthouse represents for many of our citizens an ugly reminder of the institution of slavery, the injustices of Jim Crow laws and racial segregation, and the affirmation of white supremacy that the Confederate cause represented. 

What are we as Williamson County residents asking the Commissioners to do?  

Believing that our County Courthouse and town square should reflect the current laws and social principles of our nation, we are asking that Williamson County relocate this Confederate monument to a more appropriate place for mourning those who fell in the great tragedy of the Civil War and that would better reflect its historical context. 

We as citizens and neighbors in Williamson County respectfully ask the Williamson County Commissioners Court to support our cause for the removal of the statue and pedestal located on the grounds of the Williamson County courthouse. We ask this given the historical context and circumstances in which they were erected, as well as given the negative cultural influence and implications it represents today. We ask that the Williamson County Commissioners Court begin proceedings with the Texas Historical Association to move the statue to either a museum or  cemetery such as the IOOF Oddfellows Cemetery in Georgetown, where dozens of Civil War Confederate soldiers are buried. 

What else can you do to help support this cause?

• Leave comments in this petition to explain your concerns about what the statue represents and its current location at the Williamson County Courthouse.
• Rally with us!

  WilCo Patriots are on the Court House Square in Georgetown, TX EVERY Saturday 10:00am - 4:00pm to get 'in person' petition signatures and share valuable information.

  The 2nd Saturday of each month, (Market Days in Georgetown) at 3:00pm the WilCo Patriots have Rally/Programs with members of the community speaking.

  We'd love to see you there!

• Sign a paper petition, available at the weekly rally. The Commissioners prefer to have details on the voters who request the removal.
• Contact your Williamson County Commissioner and Judge Gravell to ask that they relocate the confederate statue and pedestal to a museum or a cemetery. Not sure which precinct you live in? Find it with the Wilco County Address Search: https://gis.wilco.org/search/addressSearch.html 

Commissioner Precinct 1-Terry Cook
commissioner1@wilco.org          512-244-8610         @Terry4WILCO

Commissioner Precinct 2-Cynthia Long
clong@wilco.org                             512-260-4280          @CLongTX

Commissioner Precinct 3-Valerie Covey
comm3@wilco.org                         512-943-3370             @CommishCovey

Commissioner Precinct 4-Russ Boles
russ.boles@wilco.org                    512-943-3761             @BolesRuss

County Judge Bill Gravell
    BGravell@wilco.org                       512-943-1550          @BillGravell

• - Attend a Williamson County Commissioner Court meeting to express your support of removing the confederate statue and pedestal. Meetingss occur every Tuesday at  9:30 am at 710 Main Street Georgetown 2nd floor (check https://www.wilco.org/language/es-mx/Elected-Officials/Commissioners-Court/Meetings-Agendas-and-Records to verify meetings will be in person) Please wear purple to express your support!

Let us share with you the personal story of one of Wilco Patriot’s members, a Williamson County resident for 14 years, and her unsettling experience stumbling upon the Confederate courthouse statue with her family a few years ago. She describes how seeing it made her feel, as a Black Wilco resident, unwelcome in Georgetown and appalled that a racist symbol was on prominent display at the Wilco Courthouse: 

“Fourteen years ago my husband and I were finally ready to buy a home. We lived in Austin and were told by many friends and colleagues that Williamson county was the best place to purchase a home and raise a family and that it has the best school districts. Based on those recommendations, we were convinced that Wilco was the place for us, so in 2006 we bought a home in Round Rock. 

We lived there several years before venturing to the neighboring town of Georgetown, which seemed like a small, quiet, idyllic community. We’d been to the Blue Hole for swimming, Monument Cafe for dining and one summer my son attended a theater camp held at Georgetown’s historic Palace Theater. Four years ago I took my family to attend the Georgetown Red Poppy Festival after a coworker suggested I attend, describing it as a family-friendly event featuring many vendors, concerts, car shows and good food. My family and I went to check out the fun on the town square; and fun it was! 

After several hours of milling about, I noticed kids playing on some type of stone statue sitting in front of the County Courthouse. I walked over to see what it was and noticed the inscription honoring The Confederate Soldiers and Sailors who fell during the Civil War. I was appalled to see something so racist sitting outside the Courthouse doors. In that moment, all the fun my family had experienced that day dissipated and I looked around me at a sea of WHITENESS (I literally didn’t see another black person there that entire day) and felt my “otherness”. 

I’m a Black American and a Native Texan who’s spent most of my life in White spaces, but in that moment I felt unwelcome. For me and my family members, any sign of the Confederate Cause reignites angry, painful memories of a violent and racially oppressive Texas. I grew up hearing stories from my parents and grandparents about living in Texas during Jim Crow and the awful indignities they experienced. 

In my heart I wondered if the reason I hadn’t seen another Black person at the fest was perhaps that the Black residents in Georgetown and from other cities in Wilco had seen beyond the surface of the perfectly manicured lawns surrounding grand houses near the square and felt the more pervasive message on the streets of Georgetown: Blacks aren’t welcome. What else was I to think with a blatant symbol of White Supremacy on display in front of a COURTHOUSE that resides in the heart of the town? 

I grabbed my child’s hand and my husband and demanded we leave. He was initially confused at my sudden change in mood, but once I explained what I’d seen, he understood, and we left. That was the last Red Poppy fest we attended.  The following summer I enrolled my son in a ZAK theater in Austin, an hour from my home, instead of the Georgetown summer camp he had previously attended. 

I still reside and work in Wilco, but my view of the county is forever tainted because the county proudly and publicly still supports White Supremacy by its display of the Confederate statue.”

Through hearing many stories such as this, Wilco Patriots know that this is not a unique experience, and with your help we can make the Williamson County town square more welcoming to ALL of its residents and visitors.