Some are calling it a “payoff.” Others have called it “hush money” and “reparations.” The University of North Carolina System is calling it “a lawful and lasting path” to prevent Confederate statues and insignia from finding homes on its campuses.
But what it is, in practical terms, is $2.5 million handed directly from North Carolina’s public university system into the open palms of a Confederate group, which will bear the responsibility for taking and preserving “Silent Sam,” UNC-Chapel Hill’s controversial Confederate statue.
According to The Raleigh News and Observer, citing documents the UNC System dropped Monday afternoon, the money given to the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV) can be used toward constructing a facility to house the statue, as well as transporting, repairing and maintaining it. This is on top of a separate $74,999 deal the UNC System trustees made with the group, which prevents the SCV from flying Confederate flags, banners or signs at the system’s 17 campuses for the next five years.
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