Ben Harrison of Far North Dallas, an admitted Pennsylvania Yankee, thinks we should tear down the old Texas School Book Depository Building, now the site of the Sixth Floor Museum. He says we should erase all aspects of the crime associated with this building and the City of Dallas.
Sorry, Ben. You can tear down all the buildings you want to, but it doesn't change history. I find it interesting that you're not calling for Ford's Theater to be torn down or the Washington Hilton (site of the assassination attempt on Reagan). Gosh, I guess we should even tear down the U.S. Capitol where Puerto Ricans gunned down several members of the House of Representatives in 1954. How about the Louisiana State Capitol where Huey Long was shot? How about tearing down Westwood Baptist Church in Ft. Worth?
Yes, bad things happen, and I can understand those who were present at the time and/or lost loved ones having bad memories from the locations. However, we don't close roads because people were killed in auto accidents, and we don't tear down airports where planes crashed.
At any rate, the Sixth Floor Museum is well worth a visit if you've never been there. I spent only an hour or so there when I went, but you could easily spend the whole day if you read all the exhibits. Why would we want to tear down such a valuable archive?
"Raze it and forget it." The Dallas Morning News; November 26, 2013; p. 12A.
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