[ad_1]
UNC-Chapel Hill students are unhappy with the proposal of a university to post a Confederate statue in a new building. Police stand guard after the statue, known as Silent Sam, was toppled by protesters on campus in August.
Gerry Broome / AP
Hide the legend
Toggle the legend
Gerry Broome / AP
UNC-Chapel Hill students are unhappy with the proposal of a university to post a Confederate statue in a new building. Police stand guard after the statue, known as Silent Sam, was toppled by protesters on campus in August.
Gerry Broome / AP
The troubles continue this week on the campus of North Carolina's flagship university after university leaders have proposed a new $ 5 million building to display the known Confederate monument under the name of Silent Sam. The monument stood at the entrance of the UNC campus until the protesters destroyed it in August
Since then, the 39, university has been debated to know what to do with the statue. Officials thought they had come up with a good plan when they announced Monday their proposal to place it in a new center of history and education of the university. But this angered the students who protested hours later.
Hundreds of people marched Monday night at Chapel Hill chanting "It's our job to fight for freedom" and "We have nothing to lose, but our chains". They demanded that Silent Sam never return to campus.
"It's really frustrating to think that the university treats its minority students as props, objects to put on its pamphlets, on its website or on its social media pages." Alex Robinson, vice president of the black student movement of the university. "But he's not willing to invest in the needs of these black students."
Silent Sam was erected in 1913 to honor students who died while fighting for Confederation. The monument was dedicated to the time with a speech praising the assault of a black woman. It is since a lightning rod for the demonstrations, including that of August which brought about its overthrow.
In September, more than 50 black faculty members called for the statue to be permanently abducted. They said his presence signals that the university does not welcome blacks. Several university administrators said they would have preferred this option, especially Lowry Caudill.
But before the vote on the proposal Monday, Caudill said: "We have a law and the law prevents it."
Caudill was referring in accordance with a law passed by the state legislature under republican control in 2015. It states that any monument, if it is shot, must be moved to a site presenting an "honor" "and a similar" importance ". UNC-Hill Hill Chapel, Carol Folt, told reporters Monday that state law prohibited the return of the campus statue.
"Like everyone here, I have sworn to obey the law and you sometimes do not agree with the law," Folt said. "But I do not have the privilege of choosing the laws with which I agree and those I do not know."
But Folt also declared that bringing back the Confederate monument to its original location was not an option, for the safety of the public. Instead, university administrators have recommended that Silent Sam be hosted in the new center of history and education of the university.
The tentative plan still needs to be approved by the board of directors of the state's university system, which will meet next week. At least one board member, former state senator, Thom Goolsby, has already ruled against the new building, claiming that state law demands that Silent Sam be put back in the state he was in.
Source link
