[64], On October 12, 2015, University Day, a group of about two dozen students, calling itself The Real Silent Sam Coalition, interrupted a speech by Chancellor Folt, shouting "Tear it down, tear it down, or we'll shout you down". [126] (See Flaggers.) They repaired cracks, removed green oxidation, and gave the statue a protective wax coating. "[196], In November 2019 the University of North Carolina Board of Governors announced that ownership of the statue was being transferred to the North Carolina Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans (SCV), on the condition that it not be displayed in any county in which the University has a campus. ", "UNC Center for Civil Rights Director Theodore M. Shaw Statement on Removal of Statue Known as, University of North Carolina School of Law, "Silent Sam from a historian's perspective", "The unfinished story of Silent Sam, from 'Soldier Boy' to fallen symbol of a painful past", "Former UNC chancellor says he wished he'd taken down Silent Sam", "Former UNC chancellor's granddaughter among 14 now charged in Silent Sam protests", "Broken Tributes to a Morally Bankrupt Cause", "Behind 'Silent Sam's' toppling at UNC, a lesson for South Carolina, historians say", "Make It Right Project Responds to the North Carolina Historical Commission Vote to Keep Confederate Monuments Standing", "Daughters of Confederacy rejects Chatham County monument talks. [3][4][43], The monument appears on an undated, early 20th-century postcard. "[194] 417 other UNC-CH faculty signed a letter of support. [15][105][115][116][117] Protestors marched down and briefly blocked Franklin Street, Chapel Hill's main downtown street. Two-thirds of Americans say the use of marijuana should be legal, reflecting a steady increase over the past decade, according to a new Pew Research Center survey. "UNC student says she found Confederate Silent Sam statue, but school won't confirm", "UNC Chapel Hill's handling of Silent Sam could be election issue", "Former UNC chancellor opposes returning Silent Sam to pedestal", "Message from Chancellor Carol L. Folt on the Confederate Monument", "UNC fundraising leaders say Silent Sam threatens safety, reputation of university", "Chamber says Chapel Hill's reputation, economy at stake as Silent Sam protests mount", "UNC library board says Silent Sam doesn't belong in Wilson or any of its libraries", "Almost half of UNC Libraries staff signed statement against Silent Sam being placed in any branch", "Clergy say returning Silent Sam to same spot would affirm white supremacy", "Town to UNC: Silent Sam, an 'offense to entire Chapel Hill community,' must be moved", "To reinstall Silent Sam would 'herald for the nation and for the world that UNC is not a welcoming place for black people, "Letter written by Black faculty on Silent Sam receives support", "Silent Sam should not return to UNC campus, faculty council says", "Silent Sam will stay off the University of North Carolina campus as the school turns the statue over to a Confederate group", https://indyweek.com/news/orange/unc-board-of-governors-silent-sam-sons-of-confederate-veterans/#.XeRMoLqrjOQ.twitter, https://boingboing.net/2019/12/02/scv-dmca.html, https://www.dailytarheel.com/article/2019/12/sam-settlement-secrets, "Toppled but Not Gone: U.N.C. They were paid for by the Make It Right Project, a project of the Independent Media Institute, which is working to have Silent Sam and nine other Confederate monuments removed. Mayor of Chapel Hill Pam Hemminger had written the university on August 17, 2017, requesting that Silent Sam be moved (see above). [108] The stated audience the billboards were intended to reach — thus the Raleigh locations — were the members of the North Carolina Historical Commission. [63] They were met by three times as many counterdemonstrators, "most of them students". [62] Seeing how the monument was being defaced, a "Pro-Confederate Rally" in support of Silent Sam was announced for October 25; the protestors were from Alamance County, and had no connection with the university. Numbers, Facts and Trends Shaping Your World. [34], In a manner similar to his earlier Daniel A. Bean sculpture, John A. Wilson created a "silent" statue by not including a cartridge box on the infantryman's belt so that he cannot fire his gun. [72][86] Thousands signed a change.org petition to remove it. The growth in public support for legal marijuana has come as a growing number of jurisdictions have legalized marijuana for medical or recreational purposes. [79] Chanting "Hey, hey. Such racist symbolism is antithetical to the ethos of this vibrant, public university. [24] However, in February 2020 the settlement was overturned by the judge who originally approved it, who ruled that the SCV lacked standing to bring the lawsuit. Protests and calls to remove the monument reached a higher profile in the 2010s, and in 2018, UNC Chancellor Carol L. Folt described the monument as detrimental to the university,[14][15] and said that she would have the statue removed if not prohibited by state law. Roy Cooper to petition the North Carolina Historical Commission for an urgent ruling to relocate Silent Sam", and "as a sign of good faith, understanding that the Chancellor is now seeking the quick removal of Silent Sam, we shall stand down for the present". UNC approved the group's request in 1908 and, with funding from UNC alumni, the UDC and the university, Wilson designed the statue, using a young Boston man as his model. They related the Silent Sam situation with another controversial issue, "the Board of Governors' recent ban on representation or counsel by the Center for Civil Rights. [138], At an earlier September 5 meeting on the campus, "residents" asked the town to reconsider its relationship with the Greensboro Police Department, whose Special Operations Division was called in to assist with crowd control during the August 30 protest. [26] Raising funds to pay for the statue delayed the project by two years. Conversely, the community of Chapel Hill seems to feel very strongly that it should not be restored to its original place. A letter distributed to the SCV members, briefing them on the settlement, was published via Dropbox by attorney T. Greg Doucette. The Age reports Victorian state school parents spent more than $400m last year – a statistic that has many concerned they are propping up a chronically underfunded system. 5 About half (48%) of American adults say they have ever used marijuana, according to the 2018 National Survey on Drug Use and Health.That is lower than the shares who say they have ever consumed alcohol (86%) or ever used tobacco products (66%). [60], On the night of August 17–18, 2015, the statue, along with the Chapel Hill Post Office, were defaced with the words "Who is Sandra Bland? [78][89], On September 21, the day before the North Carolina Historical Commission was to meet, UNC-CH issued a press release. Or somewhere in between?Â, On the Cusp of Adulthood and Facing an Uncertain Future: What We Know About Gen Z So Far, Key facts about U.S. immigration policies and Biden’s proposed changes, have legalized the drug for recreational purposes, have legalized the drug for medical purposes. [125], A Community Policing Advisory Committee meets monthly to receive feedback concerning the Campus Police. Their stated intent was "disrupt[ing] business as usual", and they unusuccessfully asked Chancellor Folt to listen to their reasons why they felt Silent Sam should be removed. [34] Most of the rest of the cost was covered by alumni donations. Much has been digitized and is available online. The soul of the beholder will determine the revelation of its meaning. "[119], Large signs with such inscriptions as "The whole world is watching", "Which side are you on? [26] The request for a monument was presented to, and approved by, the UNC board of trustees on June 1, 1908. The inscriptions are in all capital letters but are rendered here in sentence case for ease of reading. The Confederate Monument, University of North Carolina, commonly known as Silent Sam, is a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier by Canadian sculptor John A. Wilson, which stood on the historic McCorkle Place of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) from 1913 until it was pulled down by protestors on August 20, 2018. [6][10], The dedication speech which has attracted the most subsequent notice was given by Julian Carr, a prominent industrialist, UNC alumnus and Trustee, former Confederate soldier, and the largest single donor towards the construction of the monument. Only 8% say it should not be legal. "[82], On August 22, 2017, at the beginning of the school year, a "Rally for Removal of Silent Sam", announced on a poster describing the day as "the first day of Silent Sam's last semester", attracted about 800 people. We believe it was time to act in ridding the UNC campus of a very public Silent Sam.... We support placing a placard in place of the statue, reminding us of what once stood there and what it stood for.". [106] A petition Little posted on change.org asking for the Honor Court charges to be dropped received 6,600 signatures. "[90] (The decision, which arrived two days after Silent Sam was toppled, was negative, as the North Carolina Historical Commission found that the law did not allow them to approve the request. Approval of the North Carolina Historical Commission is required. What's next for statue". She was also charged with a UNC Honor Code violation. "Returning the statue to the UNC-Chapel Hill campus would reaffirm the values of white supremacy that motivated its original installation," the resolution said. According to Brundage, Carr's phrase "the four years immediately succeeding the war" is a clear reference to the Reconstruction era, when the Ku Klux Klan, working to restore the dominance of traditional white hierarchy in the South, terrorized blacks and white Republicans. [40] Speeches were given by, among others, Mrs. Marshall Williams, president of the local division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy; and Francis Preston Venable, the university's president. Dump it in a hog lagoon. Pew Research Center does not take policy positions. [105], In July, 2018, Silent Sam, covered by a red X and the words "North Carolina needs a monumental change", was depicted in Raleigh on two identical billboards, on Blount Street near Hoke Street and on North Raleigh Boulevard near the intersection with Yonkers Road. Bronze statue of a Confederate soldier on the University of North Carolina campus from 1913 to 2018, The statue prior to its toppling (2007 picture). On the night of August 20, 2018, the day before the 2018–19 academic year began, another "Remove Silent Sam" rally was held,[16] beginning with speakers at 7 P.M. Attendance was reported to be 1,000. The University and the state should offer magnanimous terms to those students and allow them to return to school unpunished. The University Band played Dixie while "students formally accepted the monument",[41] and the program concluded with a rendition by a quartet of "Tenting on the Old Camp Ground".[12][40]. The refreshed statue was put back in place six months later. Meanwhile, 33 states – plus the District of Columbia, Guam, Puerto Rico, and the U.S. Virgin Islands – have legalized the drug for medical purposes, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures. This path would spare our students and faculty from the distraction, expense and pain of suing their home institution." [26][34] The Daughters originally were slated to give $1,500 of the cost of the statue,[26] though their success at fundraising led the university to ask for them to cover $2,500 by 1911. [142] Eight persons, all of whom had been arrested, signed a document alleging police misconduct at the September 8 protest. [34] The statue was planned to be in place for the 50th anniversary of the beginning of the Civil War in 1911. [67][87], Former UNC-CH Chancellor James Moeser, interviewed at the rally, said: "I used to be of the mind that we should contextualize history...but Charlottesville changed my mind." The university also agreed to fund an independent charitable trust — with $2.5 million in money not from the state — to be used for care and preservation of the statue. [68], On August 15, 2017, a video taken by a passer-by shows a man beating the statue with a hammer. The September 11 meeting had over 75 participants and was moved to the Chapel Hill Public Library. [22] The pedestal base and inscription plaques were removed in January 2019, with a statement from Chancellor Folt citing public safety. Folt stated that if UNC could remove the statue it would, but was prohibited by the 2015 law cited above. [25], The university subsequently sought help from the judge to recover the statue and money from the SCV. Folder 26: Addresses, 1912–1914: Scan 104", "I've studied the history of Confederate memorials. Members of the Silent Generation (born between 1928 and 1945) continue to be the least supportive of legalization: Only 35% favor legalizing marijuana, while 64% are opposed. Chancellor Folt asked people not to come to these events for safety reasons. [204], According to the Carolina Journal in September 2018, the controversy surrounding Silent Sam was becoming a political issue that could affect the 2018 elections in the state,[184] "a development that, in most cases, would hurt Democrats". [44] A picture from 1918, with two soldiers in front, appeared in the 1961 yearbook Yackity Yack. Its beauty and its grandeur are not limited by the genius of the sculptor. [65], On January 12, 2016, UNC police arrested a man for "spray-painting a message on Silent Sam". [50] In 1997, a Martin Luther King Jr. Day march focusing on issues facing UNC housekeepers ended at the monument. CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Sonja Haynes Stone Center for Black Culture and History, Cultural History Artifact Management and Patriotism Act of 2015, Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials#Virginia, Center for the Study of the American South, civil rights demonstrators of the 1950s and 1960s, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, List of Confederate monuments and memorials, Monument and memorial controversies in the United States, Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials, "Hundreds of UNC faculty members urge officials not to restore Silent Sam statue to its original location", "Scholars Explain The Racist History Of UNC's Silent Sam Statue", "Transcription: Julian Carr's Speech at the Dedication of Silent Sam", "Folder 128: Speeches and Essays on Education: Scan 1", "Folder 128: Speeches and Essays on Education: Scan 2", "[Mary Lyde Williams' speech at the dedication of Confederate Monument]", "FADELESS GLORY OF BRAVE YOUNG BLOOD: Monument to University's Soldier Sons Unveiled at Chapel Hill. 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