The American Taliban movement comes to Dallas

Talk of removing Confederate monuments starts a war of words in Dallas | Commentary | Dallas News


Talk of removing Confederate monuments starts a war of words in Dallas


Blame Mayor Mike Rawlings if you want.


The public conversation he wanted to start about what Dallas should do with the two Confederate statues in city parks didn't take long to go south. It ripped the bandage off an old wound about the institution of slavery and the intentions of those who want to honor those who fought on the losing side of the Civil War.

It may get worse before it gets better.

And it has to get better: After I wrote about the mayor's request to get a new group focused on racial reconciliation in Dallas to put this on its agenda, a rhetorical civil war broke out.
Both sides grabbed their modern-day bayonets -- social media -- and dug in.

One camp, led by a growing cadre of social justice activists, wants to see all symbols of the Confederacy wiped away or hauled off to a museum.

The other camp, including organized groups such as the Sons of Confederate Veterans, doesn't want the city to touch any of the tributes. They say the old monuments and school names should be left in place because they reflect America's -- and Dallas' -- history.