In August 2017, a violent white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia, shocked the nation. A couple of days later, a Durham rally in solidarity with Charlottesville anti-racist’s protests saw the Confederate monument outside Durham’s Old Courthouse building torn down by protesters. The granite base of the statue, honoring the “The Boys Who Wore the Gray,” still stands in its original position, while the crumpled bronze statue was put into storage by local authorities.
Now, a joint county-city committee in Durham has released its recommendations for the future of that monument.
The committee, co-chaired by NCCU professor Charmaine McKissick-Melton and Duke professor Robin Kirk, recommends the statue be displayed in its current, crumpled condition inside the old Courthouse building accompanied by texts that explains the statue’s origins and how its history led to its fall.
For the monument’s granite base, the committee’s report recommends city and county officials pursue a public arts piece incorporating the base that provides a more holistic interpretation of Civil War history.
At the joint City-County meeting in Durham Town Hall on Tuesday morning, Kirk said the statue’s present condition is a necessary part of tell its history.
“When the statue was taken down, we know it was irreparably damaged. It is just not salvageable. But it is a historical artifact of the times when it was created, and in its current state is a historical artifact of how it came down. It has additional meaning in other words, in its current state.”
Kirk said Durham was one of only cities in the United States to have had a conversation about the future of its Confederate memorials. She called that “significant,” and something all 12 members of the committee were grateful for.
The report and the work of the committee drew praise from city and county officials, but not all of the report’s recommendations were well-received at the joint meeting.
County Commissioner James Hill was incredulous at the report’s suggestion of moving the monument to Beechwood cemetery at a future time. Beechwood is a historically African-American cemetery, and the burial grounds of prominent members of Durham’s black community including North Carolina Central University founder James E. Shepard.
“There are no Confederate dead at Beechwood cemetery. None,” Hill said. “I’m sorry. I have to disengage from this conversation.”
The report contains suggestions for future action by county and city officials. The committee highlighted frequent comments from public input sessions on a desire for acknowledgement for people, events and locations missing from Durham’s historical narrative. The contributions of mill, tobacco and agricultural workers, civil rights leaders and enslaved peoples were brought up repeatedly. As were historical figures such as Ann Atwater and C.P. Ellis, community leaders who worked to desegregate Durham schools, as well as Black Wall Street Founders and local gay rights’ activists.
Durham Mayor Steve Schewel said it’s the county commissioners who have the power to decide what to do next.
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