MCHALE-SCULLY ADDRESSES CITY COUNCIL

Your honor, distinguished members of the commission, ladies and gentlemen:

The next time I appear in the city chambers I promise to take my full three minutes. It's not quite the same as the fifteen minutes of fame that each of us experiences in our lifetime, but in the Third World Capital of the United States we should take the meager crumbs that are offered us.

Brownsville has a glorious history, but it also has a dark side. Two individuals, whom this city has chosen to honor, are unworthy of this distinction. They don't deserve to be placed on pedestals. Like the BISD that has time and time again baptized its schools with the names of scoundrels, Brownsville has decided that these two men are heroes rather than villains.

Who are these two despicable characters? They are Charles Stillman, the founder of Brownsville, and Jefferson Davis, the president of the Confederacy.

They shared much in common and neither is honorable. They were both racists. They were both slave owners. They were both traitors to The United States of America. These aren't wild rantings. These are facts.

I'm not here to lead a crusade against these blackguards. I'm not asking the commission to rename Stillman's love nest in front of the Federal Court House the Best Little Whore House in Brownsville. I'm not asking the commission to remove the memorial to Davis in Washington Park.

But if I were an African-American, out of principle, I would never attend a function in Stillman's shack nor would I attend Sombrero Fest in Washington Park that features Davis described by the Daughters of the Confederacy as a great American.

Great Americans were not racists. Great Americans were not slave owners. Great Americans didn't betray the United States of America.

I am here to advise the commission that when you make decisions that take into account our local history, we should remember that Stillman and Davis were not good men. They were bad men.

I repeat: They were racists. They were slave owners. They betrayed The United States of America.

I want to thank the commission for allowing me the opportunity to speak before this esteemed council, made possible by the thousands of American soldiers who sacrificed their lives to protect our most sacred right of free speech.

Thank-you.