DENTON, Texas — Denton County commissioners voted 5-0 Tuesday to remove a Confederate statue that has stood in the town square since the early 1900s.
The vote comes soon after Tarrant County commissioners voted Tuesday to remove a Confederate monument that sat in front of the Tarrant County Courthouse since 1953.
For some people the statue represents a part of history.
"It's history. Not good or bad. It's just history," said Denton resident Brandon Clark.
Clark stood by the statue this afternoon in the hot Texas heat.
"I just wanted to look at the statue before it's gone and to remember it."
For others the statue represents hate.
"This is the residue of racism. This is the residue and this is another residue today that is leaving Denton and I thank God for that," said longtime Denton resident Helen Owens.
The statue was erected in 1916 by the Daughters of the Confederacy.
"I see it as part of an old, dark history that is a very painful part," said Denton resident Thelma White.
For black people the statue represents another divided time in our nation's past.
Owens and White pointed to the water fountains that are now turned off. They say for years the fountains had signs over them saying "No Colored People."
The statue is coming down.
"Even though it's a bad part of history, history should be there for everyone to see," said Clark.
Denton County commissioners say the time has come for the statue to come down.
In the wake of George Floyd's death and the Black Lives Matter movement, they voted to move the statue to a museum.
"It symbolized racism. That is not who we are and so yes, I think It should be in a museum to show the good, the bad, the ugly of our government and today Denton needs to reconcile" said Owens.
The hope is that with it's removal it will tear down barriers and bring people together.
"I hope not only are the physical things being removed but that it changes each other’s hearts and we are kinder to one another."