October 24, 2017: Del Rio News-Herald * Letter to the Editor * Monuments of today: Iconic or iconoclastic

Letter to the Editor,

Iconic or iconoclastic

The statues of Amistoso Águila Real and Friendly Bald Eagle are atop Presa la Amistad/Amistad Dam that serves as an international bridge which crosses the Rio Bravo/Rio Grande that connects the Mexico – United States border cities of Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila and Del Rio, Texas.

Friendly: Have you heard some people want our statues to be removed?

Amistoso: Why would they want our statues to be removed? We have proudly and patriotically greeted visitors from both sides of the border.

Friendly: Well, now it seems that lamentably things are different. Things have changed. The times have changed regrettably not for the better.

Amistoso: Some people think that it is best that we eradicate all the statues erected during the deplorable and despicable past. Because now eagles are considered politically incorrect patriarchal symbols that represent an ancient time of antiquity.

 

Friendly:  We represent those symbols that came into existence when colonialism and a segregated class system reigned supreme. And in people’s eyes we represent that era in our country’s history when citizens thought it was important to have symbols like eagles and flags, and songs like our national anthems’.

Amistoso:  People think that they have to erase and eradicate the past when people were proud to be patriotic and pledged allegiance to their country’s flag.

Friendly: Also the disgraced and dishonorable legacies of the President’s that dedicated our statues; the resignation of Richard Nixon and the authoritarian government of Gustavo Díaz Ordaz are what we symbolize.

Amistoso: Some people in the United States mistakenly think that by removing all the statues and monuments of the past that will make it like the past never happened.

Friendly: Now these agitators and protesters all they want is discord, friction and hostility to permeate throughout the land.

Amistoso: Do you think our people here on the Ciudad Acuña and Del Rio border will agree with them and take us down?

Friendly: Well that’s what I’ve been hearing.

Fast forward to the future; Amistoso and Friendly are in their respective country’s Museum of Antiquity.

Marian Casillas, Ed.D.

Del Rio