houston

At least 160 Confederate symbols were removed from public spaces across the United States in 2020, according to the the Southern Poverty Law Center. Even Virginia, the former capital of the Confederacy, has removed a statue of Gen. Robert E. Lee from the Richmond Statehouse and is trying to take down others seen as offensive by an increasing numbers of Americans, including those whose ancestors were enslaved. Huntsville reveres hometown hero Sam Houston. And he did not revere the Confederacy. Jimmy Henderson/flickr, CC BY-SA Texas has largely declined to participate in this nationwide reckoning with the symbols of the Old South. Instead, local officials are doubling down on their Confederate monuments. Republican State Sen. Brandon Creighton, who represents the city of Conroe, near Houst...

Three months ago, Hurricane Harvey ripped through Houston and coastal Texas, killing 82 people, displacing more than 60,000, and leaving parts of Houston with severe wind and flood damage. As the city recovers from the strongest hurricane to hit in more than 50 years, many of its residents in historically Black neighborhoods continue to struggle for resources and support. “Houston is the tale of two cities,” explains Andrew Cobb, cofounder of West Street Recovery, a nonprofit disaster response organization that formed out of Hurricane Harvey to aid residents in underserved neighborhoods. “A lot of people in Black and brown and low-income neighborhoods still need help.” “If you flew in from the airport and drove around, you’ll probably be like, ‘Well, I don’t see the problem,’” he says. “B...

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To Defend Confederate Monuments – And Sam Houston’s Legacy – Texas Distorts Its Past

Houston Neighbors Said No To Walmart And Invested In Black-Owned Businesses After The Hurricane