On a conference call with reporters on Thursday, Texas Senator John Cornyn was asked if he supported efforts to remove confederate statues.
Cornyn responded saying, "There's no question that America was an imperfect union when we were founded. We obviously betrayed our ideals by treating African Americans as less than fully human, and we've been paying for that original sin ever since then, through the Civil War, through the civil rights struggles in the '60s.”
Cornyn went on to say, “I think it's more important and more constructive for us to think about where we go from here, and obviously we need to remain sensitive to those concerns going forward, but I don't think we can go back and erase our history or by removing statues and you know what happens next? Then somebody says, well, you can't teach about the civil war or slavery.”
The senior senator from Texas was then asked if he supported the movement to rename the 10 military bases around the United States that are named after Confederate Generals. Cornyn responded, “I think it's a mistake to try to look backward. I think we should look forward and see what we can do; what's within our power to change things going forward, but I don't agree with going back and trying to rename Institutions or pull down statues or try to tear those pages out of our history books that our kids are learning in school. I just think that's not the right orientation.”
Cornyn will be in Dallas on Friday hosting a round-table discussion with Mayor Eric Turner and other local leaders on police reforms and race relations.