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Since the foundation stone of the country's first public university was laid in 1793, the legacy of slavery is inseparable from the history of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
At a ceremony celebrating the university's 225th anniversary on Friday, Chancellor Carol L. Folt apologized for this story.
"I present the deepest excuses of our university for the deep injustices of slavery, our total recognition of the strength of the slave peoples in their suffering, and our respect and debt to them," said the president. Dr. Folt in a speech made on the occasion of the University Day celebration at Memorial Hall.
She said that the United States occupies a unique place in history as the oldest public university in the country, adding that "our excuses must lead to concrete actions and must rely on the efforts and immense sacrifices of so many people who over the years have fought so hard to defend about Carolina today. "
The excuses came about two months after The protesters toppled "Silent Sam", a 105-year-old Confederate monument that had become controversial in the university. Some have called it a symbol of white supremacy and others have claimed that its destruction would amount to vandalism.
The overthrow of August 20 and subsequent protests led to several arrests and some protesters still face charges.
The statue, which occupies a prominent place in a central quadrilateral called McCorkle Place, was unveiled in 1913 with the support of the United Girls of Confederation. He represented a Confederate soldier holding a rifle. He was considered "silent" because he had no ammunition to fire his weapon.
In September, black university professors said in a letter that Silent Sam should not be resuscitated anywhere on campus, calling it a "monument to white supremacy, steeped in a history of violence against black people".
The monument is now in storage while the university is considering new landmarks and art installations for McCorkle Place. James Leloudis, professor of history, one of the leaders of the working group on the United Kingdom. history, said Friday that the new facilities would take into account the history of Native Americans and African Americans in the United States.
Slaves have built and maintained properties on campus since their founding in 1793 until the end of the Civil War in 1865.
In 2015, the university's board of directors decided to rename Saunders Hall, named in honor of William Saunders, organizer of the Ku Klux Klan in the nineteenth century.
This month, the university decided to remove the name of William Rand Kenan Sr. from a plaque because of his involvement in an episode of racial violence in 1898.
On Friday, Dr. Folt said that the university was determined to "face the reality and right the wrongs of history so that they will never be inflicted again."
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