Divided over NC Confederate monuments: More than 4,000 submit comments on proposed relocation of 3 memorials

Confederate Soldiers Monument

A request by North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper's administration to move three Confederate monuments from the Capitol grounds in Raleigh has garnered more than 4,000 comments on a state website soliciting opinions.

The North Carolina Historical Commission has been tasked with talking with historians, legal experts and hearing from the public before it makes a decision.

The next step is a hearing on March 21 in Raleigh, at which speakers have one minute to make their positions known to a five-member study committee.

A 2015 state law makes it difficult to remove or relocate public monuments, according to the News & Observer. Cooper made the recommendation following the Charlottesville, Va., violence last summer.

The commission is trying to determine whether it even has the authority to order the state statues moved to the Bentonville battlefield about 45 miles away. A petition for relocation calls them “objects of remembrance.”

“This commission has not had a contentious issue before them until now,” Michele Walker, a public information officer for the state Department of Natural and Cultural Resources, told the Picket this week.

The three memorials on Union Square are the Confederate Women's Monument (1914), the Confederate Soldiers Monument (1895) and the Henry Lawson Wyatt Monument (1912). Wyatt was the first North Carolinian killed in the Civil War.

The comment page, which launched on Jan. 29, is not restricted to state residents, though most do come from them. As of the morning of March 15, 4,031 people had weighed in.

Confederate Women's Monument (NCDCR)

They reflect what commission member David Ruffin said during a committee conference call this week that set ground rules for the hearing: “We understand that opinions are strong and divided, and in many cases, passionately held.”

While some comments reviewed by the Picket showed nuanced feelings on the matter, most are solidly on either side of the contentious issue.

“The monuments were placed by the children and widows of these men on the capitol grounds at a time when these veterans were getting old, and passing on,” wrote a High Point resident. “They were placed to memorialize these heroes, plain and simple, with no ulterior motives. I would feel we would be doing ourselves and their memories a grave disservice to move these monuments from their time-honored spots.”

A Chapel Hill resident countered.

“These statues told black citizens that they were not welcome in their own country, and they continue to send that message today. As long as these statue(s) stand in our state capitol, we are implicitly condoning the white supremacists who put them up. North Carolina can do better. Please remove these monuments to hate.”

Some commenters said if the three are moved, so should statues of the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.  But James Leloudis, a history professor at UNC-Chapel Hill, told the News & Observer that equating the memorials ignores “fundamental moral distinctions.”

The Confederacy was built on the rejection of the founding principle that "all men are created equal," Leloudis said, while "King, by comparison, called the nation back to its core defining democratic values."

The public hearing is set for 1:30-3:30 p.m. on March 21 at the Archives and History/State Library Building in Raleigh. The chair has the option of extending the session by an hour if needed.

Henry Lawson Wyatt Monument (NCDCR)

During their conference call, committee members focused on ground rules and ensuring that all views are heard. Speakers must sign in before they can address the committee and they cannot mention other monuments, such as the Silent Sam monument in Chapel Hill.

“We are trying to be open and fair and respectful of all opinions,” said Ruffin.

Speakers get one minute, and a red warning card will be put up after 30 seconds.

“No applause or other noises or clapping shall be allowed or tolerated before, during or after any speaker. Individuals in attendance who violate this rule will first be warned and then removed from the audience if a second violation occurs,” the committee said.

Walker said no banners or flags will be allowed. While people generally respect others and the rules, she said, security will be present.

The committee members agreed that the chairman can ask for comments representing another view if they have not heard speakers with such views. “Whatever our positions, we must be both fair to divergent opinions and respectful of each other’s rights to utter those opinions,” Ruffin said.

The committee can vote to keep the monuments where they are, add interpretive signage that may give historical context, move them or consider other options. “They are not limited to yes or no,” Walker told the Picket.

A Durham commenter spoke to one possible option: “If the monuments stay where they are, additional information needs to be posted on the same site to put them into the context in which they were erected. The date the monument was erected, who paid for it, who supported it, who did not support it. The fact that many were erected during Jim Crow as a way to put down efforts at equality by African-Americans should be front and center.”

A Holly Springs resident disagrees. “It is a very dangerous idea to remove statues which certain people do not agree with. History cannot be rewritten to satisfy disgruntled citizens.”

Walker said the committee is taking its duties very seriously.

“They want to know what the people of North Carolina think and how they want this issue to be handled,” she said.