The recent removal of the Robert E. Lee statue at a park in Dallas has intensified a debate over whether Confederate statues and memorials should be taken down, moved to a museum or left alone.
Protesters recently gathered at Oak Lawn Park, formerly known as Lee Park, in Oak Lawn to express their dissatisfaction over the statue's removal.
As part of KERA News's continuing coverage of the debate over Confederate symbols, here's what some of those protesters had to say:
Brenda Spurlock
"I think the $400,000 of taxpayer money that the city spent to move this $1 million treasure was not well spent. I think it would've been better spent in the black community."
Chris Seager
"The way I view General Lee is regardless of the South losing — put that on the shelf for the minute — I'm talking about a decorated military officer. He did serve this country in manner of speaking. So for them to take that down, I think it's political correctness gone awry."
Mark Calaway
"Just think it's a part of history that needs to remain. It's been there for years and years. Why take it down now? Why does our opinion not count? I'm a supporter of the men that died for our country, that's what I'm a supporter of: their history. They sacrificed a lot. They deserve to be remembered, not pushed away to the side; just like any other soldier in any other war has the right to be remembered. And that's what it's about. It has nothing to do with racism, has nothing to do with slavery; it's all about the gentlemen that lost their lives and gave up everything for our country, and now they're pushed to the side. It's not right."
Vance Savage
"It's not anything about skin color, that's nuts. We all got passed that a long time ago. It is about our individual rights. This doesn't do anything here but stir up strife where there wasn't any, in my opinion."
Christopher Ekstrum
"I'm disgusted by the amount of cowardice, moral cowardice that we've seen in Dallas. Clearly, this was an art historical statue that should have stayed. It was not placed by the KKK. It was not placed by neo-Nazis. It was placed by the famous fascist Franklin Roosevelt, who came here as president and dedicated it right out in the open with no crazies, no KKK and certainly no Nazis, who we went on to defeat. So this is a disgrace, this is absurd and most people couldn't care less. That's the real problem: They don't care if it stays, they don't care if it goes."
