AUSTIN, Texas — Residents in Williamson County rallied outside the courthouse in Georgetown on Saturday, calling for the removal of a Confederate statue.
The Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument was erected outside the Williamson County Courthouse in 1916. During Saturday's rally, advocates calling for the monument's removal said the representation of slavery doesn't belong in community spaces.
"The Williamson County Commissioners ... we have I think one advocate ally on there," said David Barrow, one of the residents calling for the statue's removal. "The others, including the judge, have not been receptive to our requests, so we'll keep fighting for that."
Counter rallygoers, in support of keeping the monument, said removing the statue would amount to erasure of Texas history, also highlighting the unsuccessful attempts made so far to have it removed.
"They have been doing this petition effort for over four years now," said Shelby Little, a member of the Williamson County Grays, a group that supports keeping the statue up. "And they know full well that the county is not going to entertain those petitions because they are not going to expend the time or the money to have signatures verified."
The tension highlights similar issues regarding Confederate monuments in Texas, as there have been statue removals in the past. In 2021, the City of Lockhart removed a statue in front of the Caldwell County Courthouse.