At the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, students and protesters toppled the towering Confederate monument nicknamed Silent Sam. Their action was surely meant to end the debate over the divisive symbol at the university, but could have intensified it instead.
The statue was erected in 1913, and fell on Monday night on the campus. It was finally brought down by demonstrators who were tired of seeing this enduring tribute to white supremacy. Although university officials recognized the issues surrounding the statue’s continued presence on their campus, they still insisted on the need for a panel to remove it.
Critics of the statue celebrated its fall and tried to bury the soldier’s head in the dirt. But officials soon secured and removed the fallen statue from the area where it had stood.
The university chancellor said in an open letter on Tuesday that the statue “has been divisive for years, and its presence has been a source of frustration for many people not only on our campus but throughout the community.” Still, in a sign that the debate might still continue, the chancellor said Monday night’s events were “unlawful and dangerous.”
The statue was dedicated to remembering soldiers in the confederate army, and in the 1960s, people were speaking up about Silent Sam saying it was a racist symbol that should be removed.
The statue was covered in paint following the assassination of Martin Luther King . Someone tied a KKK rope around its neck in 1970. UNC housekeepers protested institutional racism at the statue in 1997. In recent years the statue has been used as a site for protests by Black Lives Matter, and other groups who oppose the symbol.
It’s controversy has been long-lived, but now that the statue is finally toppled, will it continue?
Source: https://www.nytimes.com/2018/08/21/us/unc-silent-sam-monument-toppled.html
