Dallas Confederate task force says Lee statue should go to museum

The now-removed statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee should be placed in a museum, said the Dallas task force working on the issue.

The vote came late in an overextended meeting Tuesday night at Dallas City Hall of the Mayor's Task Force on Confederate Monuments. Further details would need to be determined, likely by the council or a commission.

What was billed as the task force's final meeting was messy and produced little, at least as of 10:30 p.m. Tuesday, in clear recommendations. The task force will have an additional unplanned meeting on Friday.

The task force started its meeting by entertaining and discussing any motion made by a member. Two hours into the meeting it was clear little progress was being made, so the chair changed course and asked each member what they wanted to see done with the removed statue of Robert E. Lee.

There were mixed responses, with some interested in exploring a sale of the sculpture. Others said the statue needed to stay in the city in some way, whether it be put on display at a museum or something else.

“We should keep it in our city and use it as an example of what not to do,” one task force member said.

The task force also, as of airtime Tuesday night, had not discussed the possibility of changing street names tied to the confederacy.

No matter what decisions were or were not made, the Dallas City Council has the final say when they vote on the various items on Nov. 8.