Museum says displaying Confederate statue part of healing

HOUSTON (AP) — A Houston museum dedicated to conserving African American culture said Tuesday that its decision to display a more than 100-year-old Confederate statue is about providing Black Americans with a way to confront slavery’s painful legacy and include their lived experiences in the conversation.

The towering bronze statue, called “Spirit of The Confederacy,” was removed from a downtown Houston park in June following a recommendation more than two years earlier by a task force established by Mayor Sylvester Turner.

The statue, which had been in storage since its removal, arrived at the Houston Museum of African American Culture on Monday and was viewed by reporters with The Associated Press on Tuesday in an exclusive tour.

“There is a need for our folks to heal. The way you get rid of the pain is to not bury it as if it had never existed, but to confront it and engage with it," said John Guess Jr., the museum’s CEO emeritus. "This allows our community to do this.”

The 12-foot statue depicts a winged male figure holding palm tree foliage and a sword. An inscription on a plaque below the statue reads: “To all heroes of the South who fought for the principles of states rights.”

While Confederate sympathizers argue that the Civil War was fought to establish states' rights, historians say slavery was the root cause of the war.

“We now have a chance to dialogue with that history and say something about it. Know this was really about slavery,” Guess said. “And we have an image that our community can consistently speak to, especially during times like now when the whole concept of white supremacy has so much sway in the White House. ”

The statue was erected in 1908 by the Robert E. Lee Chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy.

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