500 signatures reached
To: UNC Board of Governors
Tar Heel Confederates
The University of North Carolina Board of Governors gave the Sons of Confederate Veterans $2.5 million to keep its “Silent Sam” Confederate statue after students and other university supporters removed it last spring. The Sons of Confederate Veterans is a violent organization. The statue was erected in 1913 by a former UNC trustee as he whipped a Black woman for insulting it. Their mission statement, “committing to the vindication of the Civil War,” is a continuous reminder that they are heavily invested in a return to slavery. The way the governing board has bent over backwards for neo-Confederates makes its actions loud and clear: the University of North Carolina system does not foster a community that cares about Black lives.
Sign our petition demanding the Board of Governors stop funding white supremacy.
Why is this important?
The University of North Carolina (UNC)'s Board of Governors is currently providing financial support for the headquarters of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. This is unacceptable. A state university is prioritizing funding for a certified hate group, whose primary function is to promote white supremacy, over institutions that respond to the needs of Black people and vulnerable communities. In addition, UNC gave the Sons of Confederate Veterans $2.5 million to keep its “Silent Sam” Confederate statue after students and other university supporters removed it last spring. The Sons of Confederate Veterans is a violent organization. The actions of the governing board are loud and clear: the University of North Carolina system does not foster a community that cares about Black lives.
The most shameful thing about all this is the university is funding hate at the expense of two essential centers that would truly support and grow the institution and surrounding community. The governing board fired the attorneys affiliated with the Civil Rights Center and had to return funds that supported its Center on Poverty and Workforce Development. For the Board of Governors to use the university's platform and money in this way is a slap in the face to justice-minded North Carolinians and any Black person affiliated with the university.The University of North Carolina Board of Governors is a part of a violent cornerstone of the white South that ensures Black people remain in political, economic, and social subordination. We must push back.