GEORGETOWN, Texas — The Georgetown Square is a gathering place for many. But to some, the Confederate statue in front of the Williamson County Courthouse force them to face a harsh reality.
“I don’t need to be reminded of the pain that my ancestors, or myself, have even had to endure,” Rev. Harriett Jones, the senior pastor at Saving Grace Christian Bible Fellowship, said.
The monument features a Confederate soldier, the Confederate States of America emblem and the Confederate battle flag. It was installed in 1916, a time where more than 700 similar monuments honoring the Confederate States of America were installed in many states in the South.
But since 2017, many of these Confederate monuments have been removed from courthouse squares and parks in several Texas cities.
On Saturday morning, Georgetown church leaders and community members rallied in front of the courthouse to push for their Williamson County elected officials to remove the monument. But this isn’t the first attempt to take it down.
In 2017, a group of Williamson County residents spoke at a commissioners court meeting, hoping to have the memorial taken down. Then, in 2021, a group known as the Wilco Patriots leased a billboard advocating for the removal of the statute. Just a year later, a man sued Williamson County and multiple other organizations, saying the statue violates the civil rights of Black residents.
Late this past year, more of the community came together to urge their commissioners to take it down. For many Georgetown residents, it’s not something they’re proud of.
“I think the monument is a symbol of pain, and I can’t imagine what it feels like for our Black neighbors to walk around the square with that,” Traci McGrath said.
To McGrath, the Georgetown community she’s been involved with for the last 12 years feels much different than what the statue symbolizes.
“The Georgetown I know, it’s inclusive, it’s welcoming,” McGrath said. “‘I found such a spirit of friendship here, and people just love to collaborate and lift one another up. The statue does not reflect that.”
At the rally, the community members were encouraging people to sign a petition and reach out to their Williamson County elected officials to get them to remove the monument.
“We don’t need to be reminded of our past over and over and over because this is a new day,” Jones said. “This is a new season. We’re trying to do different things. This is a different generation, and if we can’t get it done for your generation, who’s going to get it done?”