Together We Stand Rally at Courthouse on July 4

A coalition for the relocation of the Williamson County Confederate Monument will meet on the south side of the Williamson County Courthouse, 710 S. Main Street in Georgetown, for a “Together We Stand Rally” at noon on July 4. They will be celebrating in word and song the United States of America and its promise of “liberty and justice for all.” Participants will rally under the Stars and Stripes, the symbol of freedom that represents all Americans and which calls for us to stand as one nation, united in our diversity.  

As they have in previous gatherings, they will declare their opposition to the violence, bigotry, and oppression represented by the Williamson County Confederate Monument. Excerpts will be read from Frederick Douglass’s 1852 address, “What to the Slave is the 4th of July?” to remind us that the ideal of American equality is ever-evolving and that each generation must spread its arms wider to realize the dream of “a more perfect union.”

The event is open to the public and is organized and sponsored by the Move the Monument coalition and the Wilco Patriots. 

Background

The monument features a confederate soldier, the Confederate States of America (CSA) emblem, and the confederate battle flag. It was placed on the grounds of the Williamson County Courthouse in 1916. More than 700 such monuments valorizing the Confederate States of America were installed on courthouse squares and public parks in cities across the South. Many were manufactured and installed at a time when the Ku Klux Klan was growing quickly and Jim Crow laws were being established or strengthened to enforce legal segregation and discrimination. 

Since 2017, confederate monuments have been removed from courthouse squares and public parks in Beaumont, Dallas, Denton, Fort Worth, Gainesville, Houston, Lockhart, and San Antonio. 

 

For Immediate Release

Media contact: 

Georgianne Hewett

georgiannehewett@gmail.com 

512-779-5598

June 27, 2024