Rally for racial justice set for City Park

By Jordan Buckley
Special to the LPR

Various members of the community will come together on Tuesday, July 7, at 4PM in City Park for a free event composed of music, vendors & speeches from local civic leaders about the importance of relocating the Confederate memorial in downtown Lockhart.
Margaret Carter, an organizer of the event and executive director of the nonprofit group Where We Thrive, says the evening’s programming will include a performance of “Citta” by FatMac, courtesy of WLJ entertainment, while several vendors, such as Heller’s Helping Hand Construction, will be on hand for the joyous get-together.
Co-owner of Bluebonnet Records, Cody Kimball, will furnish music for the gathering, while local advocate Sterling Riles will present a list of businesses who support the relocation of the century-old monument.  
Riles and event organizers will encourage attendees to direct purchases to these “loyal and local” businesses who support removing from public view what many consider an offensive relic, installed outside the Courthouse in 1923, at a time when the local Ku Klux Klan chapter used to gather on the same spot for public meetings and possessed considerable sway in local politics.
In recent months, communities all across the country have ended their use of Confederate imagery, including NASCAR and the Marines. Lockhart neighbor San Marcos removed their downtown Confederate monument in 2016, following protests and vandalism. It was likewise erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy, just a few years after 20,000 members of the KKK convened in San Marcos for a statewide gathering and march. 
In a statement, Texas State University, who paid for its removal, said, “It is not an appropriate monument for a modern Texas University.”