Houston Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- A U.S. online petition called the city of Houston to remove a Confederate monument and has so far attracted more than 440 supporters in the past two days.
The petition organizer - Houston Young Communist League - said they started the petition to remove the "Spirit of the Confederacy" statute shortly after the events in Charlottesville, Virginia.
At least one was killed and 19 injured when a car struck a crowd of counter protesters at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville Saturday after the police dispersed the "Unite the Right" rally in the downtown.
The petitioners asked the city of Houston to erect a monument memorializing victims of slavery, President Abraham Lincoln, or fallen soldiers of the Union during the Civil War at the same place of the Confederate statue.
"Fascism and white nationalism are now not only mobilized forces in America but have ambiguous sympathy from President Donald Trump. They have used monuments to the Confederacy as rallying points to sow disunity and spread terror," said the petition.
Brian Lantz, senior executive of Schiller Institute, told Xinhua that an effort has been made to keep a pro-Confederate tradition in the South, including Texas. The expression such as "The South shall rise again" is used to manipulate people.
The statue was erected in January 1908 and its dedication states "To all heroes of the South who fought for the Principles of States Rights."
