AUSTIN, Texas _ One week after state Democratic senators called for Confederate monuments and symbols to be removed from the Capitol, Lt. Gov. Dan Patrick responded Monday by dismissing the request as insincere and a failure to recognize the Democratic Party's culpability for the displays.
"It was Democrats, not Republicans, who controlled the levers of government when these monuments were placed and paintings were hung," Patrick, a Republican, wrote in a letter to the Senate Democratic Caucus.
"Urging us to tear down everything that your party built over the years, implying that Republicans are at fault, is neither a path forward nor a solution that the majority of Texans want," he added.
Confederate symbols at the Capitol, including monuments on the outdoor grounds and paintings inside the Senate chamber, have long been a point of contention, but efforts to remove the symbols have grown amid racial justice protests since George Floyd was killed in Minneapolis police custody in late May.
In a letter sent Thursday to Gov. Greg Abbott and copied to Patrick, the Senate Democratic Caucus argued that the Capitol grounds should be a shrine to freedom and opportunity, "not abet the forces of racial discrimination."
"As the symbol of democratic government for all Texans, the Texas Capitol should reflect the highest ideals of liberty, fairness and unity. It is no place for statues and paintings that edify injustice and divisiveness," the letter said.
The senators renewed calls for a governor-appointed task force, first made five years ago after a white supremacist killed nine black members of a Charleston, S.C., church, to review the appropriateness of the Confederate symbols.
"The sincere objective was to start a serious conversation about how best to honor Texas' heritage and history in a manner that is culturally appropriate and historically accurate," said the letter, signed by all 12 Senate Democrats.
But in his reply, Patrick, who presides over the Senate, said Democrats seemed more interested in dictating terms than in truly discussing the situation.
"Instead, the only solution you offer is the one articulated in your current letter _ to tear down every monument, take down every portrait, and remove all symbols that you don't like without any discussion. That is not a 'sincere' or 'serious conversation,'" he wrote.
The Legislature last tackled the issue in 2019, when the Senate passed a bill that would have made it far more difficult to remove, relocate or change Confederate monuments and other historic memorials across Texas.
After several hours of frequently emotional debate, all 19 Senate Republicans voted for Senate Bill 1663, while all 12 Democrats opposed it.
The bill was sent to the Texas House, where it died without a floor vote.
In Monday's letter, Patrick criticized Democrats for opposing SB 1663 and said there are lamentable periods of injustice and inequality in every state and nation.
"But I believe that it's what we have done as a nation, and as a state to correct those injustices, that defines us. Texas history is not perfect, but we have much to be proud of and we have come a long way," he wrote.
Patrick also said most Texans do not support the Democrats' call to remove Confederate monuments from the Capitol.
"It is important to note that in poll after poll, the majority of Texans, including many people of color, do not want us to tear down our history, especially in the middle of the night, or out of political correctness," he wrote.
However, a June poll by the Texas Politics Project at the University of Texas found that 52% of respondents favored removing Confederate monuments from public property _ with 32% saying they should be relocated to a museum or similar venue, and 20% favoring their removal altogether.
When the same question was asked in an October 2017 poll, only 38% favored removing or relocating the monuments.
The most recent poll also showed declining support for leaving Confederate monuments unchanged _ 20% in June, down from 34% in 2017.
Both polls had a margin of error of 2.8 to 2.9 percentage points.
