Protesters at UNC tore down a confederate statue tonight.
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Protesters on Monday night toppled the controversial “Silent Sam” statue on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
More than 300 protesters first gathered at the Peace and Justice Plaza at about 7 p.m., before marching to the base of the statue, calling for its removal. By 9:30 p.m., the statue was on the ground and the crowd was cheering.
“Silent Sam” had been standing on the UNC campus since 1913.
Gov. Roy Cooper issued a statement Monday night, saying that he “understands that many people are frustrated by the pace of change and he shares their frustration, but violent destruction of public property has no place in our communities.”
I agree the statue needed to go, I am not sure I can even bring myself to call for the prosecution of the people who toppled it illegally if nobody was injured after reading part of the dedication speech given when it was erected.
According to research by W. Fitzhugh Brundage, who is the William B. Umstead Professor of History at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, the purpose of this statue was clearly stated at its 1913 dedication. In his now controversial dedication speech, industrialist and former Confederate soldier Julian Carr emphatically praised the student-soldiers and soldiers of the Confederate army for their wartime valor and patriotism.
However, he also notes towards the end of the speech his belief that “The present generation, I am persuaded, scarcely takes note of what the Confederate soldier meant to the welfare of the Anglo Saxon race during the four years immediately succeeding the war…their courage and steadfastness saved the very life of the Anglo Saxon race in the South.” “The four years immediately succeeding the war” refers to the terrorization of blacks and white Republicans by the Ku Klux Klan, which worked to change the dominance of whites in the south.[9]
Carr went on to boast to the crowd that “one hundred yards from where we stand,” soon after his return from Apomattox, “I horse whipped a negro wench until her skirts hung in shreds because she had maligned and insulted a Southern lady, and then rushed for protection to these University buildings where was stationed a garrison of 100 Federal soldiers. I performed the pleasing duty in the immediate presence of the entire garrison.”[10]
Except the system wasnt working, there was no request by the University admin to remove the statue. The students prolly grew tired of the excuses and took matters into their own hands.
Yeah…I know…and.it’s been up since 1913, so please list all of those that went to the hospital for medical treatment as a direct result? I’ll wait right here…
