On August 20 2018, 250 protesters gathered at the Confederate Monument, known as “Silent Sam,” located on the campus of the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill and according to NYMag, by 9:20 PM, the protesters were pulling it down with ropes.
The Silent Sam statue was originally put up in 1913 to commemorate the 1000 plus UNC students who enlisted in the Army during the Civil War. Speeches were given that included Julian Carr, the founder of Carrboro. UNC history professor W. Fitzhugh Brundage describes Carr’s speech as “urg(ing) his audience to devote themselves to the maintenance of white supremacy with the same vigor that their Confederate ancestors had defended slavery”. Because of speeches like Carr’s and the overwhelming support from Confederate groups, many support the idea that the statue resembles racism and hate that took place in the South in the 19th and 20th centuries, which eventually led to protests like the one that took place on August 20.
Since the toppling, UNC officials have been deciding what the fate of the statue should be. Perhaps the most controversial proposal was to build a museum to house the statue, reportedly costing $5.3 million to build, and another $800,000 to maintain per year, according to The University of North Carolina Board of Trustees. The building was reportedly planned to be built on campus, because Silent Sam can not move of of campus due to legal issues.
On Dec. 14, a meeting was held with the UNC Board of Governors, and it was decided that UNC cannot continue with the plan to house Silent Sam in the museum. Board Chairman Harry Smith stated that the project was chosen to be discontinued for concern in the safety of the students and the price tag being too large, according to ABC News.
After the Board of Governors’ rejection of the museum, ABC News also reported that the Board of Trustees gathered a task force of five people to propose a plan for relocating the monument no later than March 15.
Update (1/15/2019): On Monday, January 14, 2019, UNC Chancellor Carol Folt released a letter to the UNC community in which she announced her resignation, which will take effect after graduation in May. In the same letter, Folt reported that she had ordered the pedestal that once held the Silent Sam statue to be removed, which was completed in the early hours of Tuesday, January 15 (Source: Amir Vera, CNN).
