One Riot, One Ranger

The 12-foot (3.7 m) statue was created by Texas artist Waldine Amanda Tauch and donated to the city of Dallas in 1961 by the wealthy restaurateur Earle Wyatt and his wife.[1][2] It was subsequently installed at Dallas Love Field and dedicated on April 30, 1961.[2] The statue was modeled after Jay Banks, who was a captain of the Texas Rangers in the 1950s.[1][3]

In June 2020, the statue was removed following the publication of the book Cult of Glory: The Bold and Brutal History of the Texas Rangers by Doug Swanson.[4][5] The book details Banks' participation in efforts to keep schools in Texas racially segregated in defiance of Brown v. Board of Education.

Banks was in charge of a Texas Ranger division that was deployed in 1956 to prevent African American students from enrolling in Mansfield High School and Texarkana Junior College, a public community college.[6] This was ordered by then governor Allan Shivers despite court rulings to the contrary.[6]

At both schools, a mob of white men gathered to block black students from entering. Banks supported the mobs, later writing, "They were just salt-of-the-earth citizens who had been stirred up by agitators. They were concerned because they were convinced that someone was trying to interfere with their way of life."[7] At Texarkana Junior College the mob attacked two black students who attempted to enter the school. The Rangers did nothing to intervene and threatened to arrest the black students.[8][9] The local White Citizens' Council was so happy with the Rangers' actions, they gave Banks a chicken dinner.[8]

• List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests