Legal Settlement Means 'Racist' Confederate Statue Will Not Return to UNC Campus
The University of North Carolina announced Wednesday that a torn-down Confederate monument won’t return to campus under a legal agreement that hands over the “Silent Sam” statue to a group of Confederate descendants.
The University of North Carolina System said in a news release that a judge approved a settlement giving possession of the monument to the Sons of Confederate Veterans, who will keep the statue outside the 14 counties where there are university system campuses.
Silent Sam stood in a main quad of the system’s flagship Chapel Hill campus for more than a century before it was toppled in 2018 by protesters who called it a racist symbol.
Under the agreement, the university will also create a $2.5 million fund that can be used for expenses related to preserving the monument or potentially building a facility to house it.
The university system said the settlement complies with a North Carolina state law restricting the removal of Confederate monuments.
“The safety and security concerns expressed by students, faculty and staff are genuine, and we believe this consent judgment not only addresses those concerns but does what is best for the university, and the university community in full compliance with North Carolina law,” Jim Holmes, a member of the UNC Board of Governors, said in a statement.
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The university system statement said that the settlement, described as a consent judgment, was in response to a lawsuit filed against the university by the Sons of Confederate Veterans.
University system spokesmen didn’t immediately respond to emails asking for a copy of the legal settlement.
R. Kevin Stone, commander of the Sons of Confederate Veterans’ North Carolina division, issued a statement that the group was pleased to gain ownership of the statue.
“We have been involved in ongoing negotiations and collaboration to achieve this outcome and we believe it is a fair result,” he said.
The group didn’t immediately respond to an email asking about plans for the statue and where it may end up.
The Western Journal has reviewed this Associated Press story and may have altered it prior to publication to ensure that it meets our editorial standards.
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