About 20 people, most of whom participated in the downtown Orange Martin Luther King Jr. March, took their signs Monday afternoon to MLK Drive in front of the half-built Sons of Confederate Veterans Confederate flag memorial with no flags
Louis Ackerman, president of the Southeast Texas Progressives, said the demonstration was a fitting way to mark Dr. King’s birthday.
Some of the people had their signs with quotes from Dr. King, while a couple of signs were made specifically for the site.
“Granvel Block: Please repurpose this site!” read one sign, referring to the local man who is a former president of the Texas Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and got the building permit for the memorial.
Another sign read “This is hurtful to our community. Children are watching.”
Ackerman said a majority of the reaction from people driving by had been positive. “Most people are honking and waving and shooting us the thumbs up sign,” he said. However, a few had yelled at them.
He said the progressives will continue to demonstrate at the site in the future. “We are going to get out here until this is down or repurposed.”
-Margaret Toal, KOGT-
Social Media