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Earlier this week, Federal Chancellor of the University of North Carolina, Carol Folt, announced that she was working with university administrators to develop a plan to relocate the Confederate statue "Silent Sam" before the deadline of November 15th. Hundreds of university professors have asked that the polarizing statue not be restored to its original location. Now, 59 UNC Black faculty members call for its definitive abolition, saying any effort to resettle "Silent Sam" on campus "announces to the nation and to the world that the UNC is not a welcoming place for blacks ".
Their full declaration follows:
UNC black faculty statement on Silent Sam
As the black faculty of the UNC, we occupy a unique position in relation to the Confederate monument known as "Silent Sam". When the Daughters of Confederation commissioned the university monument, Julian Carr, a member of the UNC Board of Directors, made his racist remarks during his dedication, and we doubt that the black faculties being considered would be dynamic and necessary members of the intellectual, cultural and social community of the university. In 1913, the Confederate monument did not oppose the declared values and mission of the university. By 2018, this is certainly the case. This has happened since the university chose to admit the first black student or to offer the first black member of the faculty a contract of employment. We have witnessed a monument of white supremacy, both in the past and in the present, when we have been invited to serve as examples of diversity and inclusion. It's a demoralizing burden.
A monument of white supremacy, steeped in a history of violence against blacks and continuing to attract white supremacists, creates a hostile racial work environment and diminishes the university's reputation around the world. For us, arguments of moral equivalence are extremely problematic. The history of the monument does not present two morally valid aspects nor its present meaning. Without courageous acts of civil disobedience that have changed the moral character of the nation and advanced the cause of justice, black teachers, staff, and students would not be there. To relocate the Confederate monument anywhere on the UNC campus is to announce to the nation and to the world that the NCU is not a welcoming place for blacks.
We, the undersigned faculty, urge the Chancellor, the Provost, the Board of Directors and the Board of Governors to permanently remove the Confederate statue and pedestal from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. There is no way to re-erect the statue without valuing an incomplete version of the story. A symbol of racism, violence and white supremacy does not belong on our 21st century campus, often called the "University of the People".
1. Elizabeth A. Adams, Assistant Professor of Research, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
2. Anna Agbe-Davies, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology
3. Michele Tracy Berger, Associate Professor, Department of Women and Gender Studies
4. Maya Berry, Assistant Professor, African, African American and Diaspora Studies
5. Cedric Bright, Associate Professor of Medicine, School of Medicine
6. Antonio A. Bush, Assistant Professor, Eshelman School of Pharmacy
7. Kia Lilly Caldwell, Professor, African, African American and Diaspora Studies
8. Eileen R. Carlton Parsons, Professor, School of Education
9. Claude A. Clegg III, Distinguished Professor Lyle V. Jones, African, Afro-American and Diaspora Studies
10. Shauna M. Cooper, Associate Professor, Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
11. Renee Alexander Craft, Associate Professor, Department of Communication
12. Crystal Wiley Cene, Associate Professor, School of Medicine
13. Deen Freelon, Associate Professor, School of Media and Journalism
14. Livis James Freeman Jr., Assistant Professor of Education, School of Media and Journalism
15. Samuel Ray Gates, Assistant Professor, Department of Dramatic Art
16. Amelia Gibson, Assistant Professor, School of Information and Library Science
17. Keisha Gibson, Associate Professor of Medicine and Pediatrics
18. Rachel W. Goode, Assistant Professor, School of Social Work
19. Taylor W. Hargrove, Assistant Professor, Sociology
20. Sherick Hughes, Professor at the School of Education
21. Jerma A. Jackson, Associate Professor, Department of History
22. Meta DuEwa Jones, Associate Professor, Department of English and Comparative Literature
23. Joseph Jordan, Stone Center
24. Jacqueline Lawton, Assistant Professor, Department of Dramatic Art
25. Derrick D. Matthews, Assistant Professor, Department of Health Behavior
26. Rahsaan Maxwell, Associate Professor of Political Science
27. Sean McLean, Associate Professor, School of Medicine
28. Trevy A. McDonald, Associate Professor, School of Media and Journalism
29. Kenya McNeal-Trice, Professor, Department of Pediatrics
30. Terence McIntosh, Associate Professor, Department of History
31. Genna Rae McNeil, Professor, Department of History
32. Fabian Monrose, Kenan Distinguished Professor, Department of Computer Science
33. Carlton Moore, Associate Professor, Department of Medicine
34. Enrique Neblett, Associate Professor, Psychology and Neuroscience
35. Donna L. Nixon, Clinical Assistant Professor, Faculty of Law
36. Terence Oliver, Reese Felts Distinguished Associate Professor, School of Media and Journalism
37. Patricia Parker, Associate Professor, Department of Communication
38. Kathy Perkins, Emeritus Professor of Dramatic Art
39. Charlene Regester, Associate Professor, African, African American and Diaspora Studies
40. Dana Rice, Assistant Professor, Gillings School of Global Public Health
41. Liana Richardson, Assistant Professor, Department of Sociology
42. Michelle Robinson, Associate Professor, Department of American Studies
43. Lillie Searles, Associate Professor, Department of Biology
44. Theodore M. Shaw, Distinguished Law Professor Julius L. Chambers and Director of the Center for Civil Rights
45. Tanya L. Shields, Associate Professor, Department of Women and Gender Studies
46. Karla Slocum, Thomas Willis Lambeth, Distinguished President, Associate Professor, Anthropology
47. Deborah Stroman, Associate Clinical Professor, Gillings School of Global Public Health
48. William Sturkey, Assistant Professor, Department of History
49. J. Michael Terry, Associate Professor, Department of Linguistics
50. Brendan J. Thornton, Assistant Professor, Department of Religious Studies
51. Kimberly P. Truesdale, Associate Professor, Department of Nutrition
52. Karolyn Tyson, Bowman and Gordon Gray Professor of Terminology, Sociology
53. Anissa Vines, Assistant Professor of Epidemiology, Gillings School of Global Public Health
54. Candis Watts Smith, Assistant Professor, Public Policy
55. Eric King Watts, Associate Professor, Department of Communication
56. Becky L. White, Assistant Professor, Department of Medicine
57. Kathryn Williams, Associate Professor of Education, Department of Dramatic Art
58. Lyneise Williams, Associate Professor, Department of Art and History of Art
59. Erika K. Wilson, Thomas Willis Lambeth, Distinguished President, Associate Professor, Faculty of Law
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