October 25,2017: Del Rio News-Herald * Letter to the Editor * 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