North Carolina residents have sued their county in federal court to remove a Confederate monument that thanks “loyal slaves” and honors the Confederacy.
Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County, a black community organizing group, argues that Tyrrell County’s Confederate monument violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because it contains racist language.
The monument, which stands more than 20 feet tall, depicts a Confederate soldier standing on a raised pedestal in front of the courthouse.
“The Tyrrell County monument, on behalf of the local government, conveys the idea that enslaved Black people in Tyrrell County chose servitude over freedom,” the monument reads. Lawsuit against the county It added that the document, filed last week, also conveys “the notion that Tyrrell’s organisation regards black people’s rightful place as a place of subordination and subjugation.”
The 1902 monument was erected by the county as a gift from a local former Confederate officer, the lawsuit alleges. The relief commemorates He said he was “grateful to our patriotic sons” who fought and died for the Confederacy and to his “loyal slaves.”
Concerned citizens groups have led protests against the monument for years, claiming it is the only monument in a courthouse in the country that “expresses a racist message.”
Members of the group claim they have been harassed and threatened for their efforts to remove the monument, with one plaintiff saying she was nearly run off the road by a man because of her activism.
The lawsuit challenges a 2015 North Carolina law aimed at banning local governments from removing Confederate monuments, but the plaintiffs argue that the law only applies to monuments owned by the state government, not counties.
According to the lawsuit, more than a dozen Confederate monuments have been removed by local governments in the past five years. Some were forcibly removed, including one that was toppled by protesters at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 2018.
North Carolina Governor Roy Cooper (Democrat) has previously supported the removal of similar Confederate monuments in his state.
The issue has divided opinion across the nation. Attempts to remove Confederate monuments from Arlington National Cemetery faced strong backlash Republican lawmakers had pushed for the monument’s removal, but it was removed in December.
The Hill has reached out to Tyrrell County Administrator for comment.
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