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To: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected], [email protected],
Remove Confederate Monument in Graham, NC
To all of you who can do good on behalf of the people of Graham,
Graham is an amazing little town and has so much growth potential. We had our first festival last year and I noticed that there were very few Black people who came to the event and those that did were vendors from out of town. Making this town welcoming to all people of color, and to see it grow in a healthy way, will be difficult under the shadow of a confederate monument.
These statues are not just carved stones, they are not just innocent remembrances of a benign history. They are fictional story that ignores the death and enslavement of black men, women and children.
So far, the Navy, US Marine Corp and NASCAR have all banned the Confederate Flag and there are many more that are anticipated to follow.
Among reputable historians, the Confederacy was established upon the premise of white supremacy and that the South fought the Civil War to preserve its slave labor. Despite the well-documented history of the Civil War, legions of Southerners still cling to the myth of the Lost Cause as a noble endeavor fought to defend the region’s honor and its ability to govern itself in the face of Northern aggression. This deeply rooted but false narrative is the result of many decades of revisionism in the lore and even textbooks of the South that sought to create a more acceptable version of the region’s past. Confederate monuments and other symbols are very much a part of that effort. The statue is a daily reminder of one of the darkest periods in our Nation’s history. The statue does not seek to explain or seek reconciliation for that time; it seeks to glorify it.
Other cities are taking the lead by removing them before they are illegally taken down by the people of the area. Alabama and West Virginia have taken the courageous steps in leadership by removing one of the first of many confederate monuments. Admitting you are learning or updating your understanding of the meaning of this monument doesn't detract from who you are or your leadership authority, it demonstrates to others it's SAFE and normal to admit you didn’t either know all the facts or have a new understanding of its meaning.
I'm ashamed to bring friends into this town when there is a confederate monument sitting directly across from a small mural that says "Love Always Wins". The hypocrisy is overwhelming.
Who pays to protect this monument to a fictional story? Whose heritage are you protecting? Slave owners of the past?
Please gather up the courage and step up on this issue and acknowledging the injustices of the past by taking down this monument.
Thank you for your consideration.
Graham is an amazing little town and has so much growth potential. We had our first festival last year and I noticed that there were very few Black people who came to the event and those that did were vendors from out of town. Making this town welcoming to all people of color, and to see it grow in a healthy way, will be difficult under the shadow of a confederate monument.
These statues are not just carved stones, they are not just innocent remembrances of a benign history. They are fictional story that ignores the death and enslavement of black men, women and children.
So far, the Navy, US Marine Corp and NASCAR have all banned the Confederate Flag and there are many more that are anticipated to follow.
Among reputable historians, the Confederacy was established upon the premise of white supremacy and that the South fought the Civil War to preserve its slave labor. Despite the well-documented history of the Civil War, legions of Southerners still cling to the myth of the Lost Cause as a noble endeavor fought to defend the region’s honor and its ability to govern itself in the face of Northern aggression. This deeply rooted but false narrative is the result of many decades of revisionism in the lore and even textbooks of the South that sought to create a more acceptable version of the region’s past. Confederate monuments and other symbols are very much a part of that effort. The statue is a daily reminder of one of the darkest periods in our Nation’s history. The statue does not seek to explain or seek reconciliation for that time; it seeks to glorify it.
Other cities are taking the lead by removing them before they are illegally taken down by the people of the area. Alabama and West Virginia have taken the courageous steps in leadership by removing one of the first of many confederate monuments. Admitting you are learning or updating your understanding of the meaning of this monument doesn't detract from who you are or your leadership authority, it demonstrates to others it's SAFE and normal to admit you didn’t either know all the facts or have a new understanding of its meaning.
I'm ashamed to bring friends into this town when there is a confederate monument sitting directly across from a small mural that says "Love Always Wins". The hypocrisy is overwhelming.
Who pays to protect this monument to a fictional story? Whose heritage are you protecting? Slave owners of the past?
Please gather up the courage and step up on this issue and acknowledging the injustices of the past by taking down this monument.
Thank you for your consideration.
Why is this important?
The removal of the monument is a symbol that does not reflect the true history and it represents values that have no place in the community today. It sends the wrong message to visitors and residents. Our taxes are paying to protect something that racially divides our community. African Americans who were enslaved by the millions in the South and later subjected to brutal oppression under the white supremacist regime of Jim Crow. Our democracy is based on equality under the law, and public entities should not prominently display symbols that undermine that concept and alienate an entire segment of the population.