VON ORMY, Texas — Controversy erupted after Confederate crosses were placed at a historic family cemetery in Von Ormy.
Descendants of people who fought in the Texas Revolution, say they were upset when they saw the crosses at their family's gravesite.
"I was offended by that because the marker does not honor my relative," said John Moore Jr.
John Moore Jr. is the great-grandson of Blas Buenaventura Herrera and Sabina Herrera. He says the Confederate crosses installed at his great-grandparents' gravesite at the Ruiz-Herrera Cemetery is a desecration.
"One side of the marker say Deo Vendici, which means God will vindicate, which for Neo-Confederates means that God will vindicate them for the Lost Cause. The Lost Cause was white supremacy and slavery in the South," said Moore.
The other side of the cross bears the Confederate Battle Flag.
"Which itself has been a provocative symbol of white supremacy by Southern racists," said Moore.
A great-niece of the Herrera's, Dr. Carmen Tafolla said the crosses are contrary to what the cemetery was meant to represent.
Dr. Tafolla feels the crosses are a political statement. The opposite of patriotism in the United States. Dr. Tafolla said Herrera did serve in the Confederate Army for a short time.
"He and other Mexico-Tejano's who took the jobs, because it was the only job he could find during that very desperate economic time period. They were threatened. Their lives were threatened by fellow Confederates," said Dr. Tafolla.
To suddenly install these Confederate Crosses is biased, and does not represent the Mexico-Tejano experience.
"To take just one of those flags the Confederate one, and to propagate it here give a very bad message in this time period of rising hate crimes, and white supremacy groups," said Dr. Tafolla.
The Ruiz-Herrera Cemetery is run by a board of 3 people. Board member Art Martinez De Vara says the family approved the installation of the crosses through a vote by members of the Cemetery Association. The crosses were donated by the Sons of thee Confederate Veterans. Martinez De Vara says 6 years ago, they began a campaign to put markers at all veterans' gravesites.
"We can't change our history and we can't erase it, so what we're doing here is honoring individuals for their service," said Martinez De Vara.
De Vara said the crosses are not a political statement. Since this issue has become public, he says most want to keep them.
"One of the dangers when you erase history is you're doomed to repeat it, so we should remember it, talk about it, and teach our kids about it," said Martinez De Vara.
Martinez De Vara said in a vote today, members voted 28-17 in favor of keeping the crosses. He said because most of the opposition came from the Blas Buenaventura Herrera Family, they will remove his cross.
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