Georgetown Billboard Urges Removal Of Confederate Statue In WilCo

Round Rock TX

10 September, 2021

3:09 PM

Description

AUSTIN, TX — A new billboard was erected in Georgetown on Wednesday to urge local officials to remove a Confederate soldier statue that has been located at Williamson County's Courthouse for more than a century. The billboard, which is located near the Leander/RM 2243 exit for Georgetown, says: "REMOVE the Confederate monument from our Square." The Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument is an outdoor Confederate memorial located outside the county courthouse. It was installed in 1916, according to the Library of Congress. The Alabama-based Southern Poverty Law Center, a nonprofit that fights for civil rights nationwide, paid for the billboard ad that will be up for more than a month. Live in Round Rock? Click here to subscribe to our free breaking news alerts delivered to your inbox and mobile devices. Follow us on Facebook and Twitter, and download our free mobile app on Android or iPhone. According to the law center, the billboard was raised to support a group called the WilCo Patriots, who have been working for 2 ½ years to get the statue removed and to "De-Confederate" Georgetown. In response to the billboard, County Judge Bill Gravel on Wednesday said the county continues to listen to the needs and requests of residents and that they are still listening. However, the Austin-American Statesman reports Williamson County commissioners have taken no action on the statue since they approved forming a committee to study the history of the monument in August 2020. Today is a great day here in Georgetown TX. Thank you @splcenter @georgetowntx @BillGravell @wilcogov #MoveItNow#WhoseHeritage pic.twitter.com/utVwf0M6xQ— Wilco Patriots (@WilcoPatriots) September 7, 2021 The law center said the erection of the billboard was a response to the Williamson County Historical Commission placing about nine bricks honoring Confederate soldiers and officials on the sidewalk around the courthouse in the spring as part of a program to honor veterans. "The placement of Confederacy symbols was systematic and intentional," Lecia Brooks, the chief of staff of the law center, said in the release. "This iconography continues to do the work their creators intended by serving as a warning to Black America that white supremacy ruled. Their presence in and around courthouses is a threat to equal justice, especially for people of color." The law center said the Georgetown Square should "feel welcoming to all." "While other Texas cities have voluntarily removed Confederate memorials, this display warns Americans that Williamson County intentionally remains on the wrong side of history by protecting these dehumanizing symbols of pain and oppression," the release said. Patch has reached out to the county for comment as well as the law center and WilCo Patriots for more details on the billboard and movement to remove the statue. When we receive an update, we will update this article. RELATED COVERAGE:Leander ISD Opens COVID-19 Testing Site In Cedar Park City Of Austin Has Yet To Approve ACL Permit For October Person Arrested In Arson Fire At Northwest Austin Complex