The Orange County Board of County Commissioners approved resolutions last Tuesday acknowledging and apologizing for all “criminal acts of racial terror lynching” in Orange County perpetrated or condoned by previous Orange County elected officials. These lynchings occurred during the aftermath of the Civil War and from Reconstruction through the middle of the twentieth century.
The Board also passed a resolution at that meeting Tuesday evening to build historical markers in the county to honor those whose lives were lost to racial terror lynching. The resolutions passed in a 6-0 vote.
Chair of the board Renée Price drafted the resolution along with Commissioner Anna Edwards. She said the resolution also extends deepest sympathies to the families and descendants of all women and men who were murdered by racial terror lynching.
“‘Lynching became a practice predominantly inflicted upon Black or African-American men, women and children by white individuals, vigilante mobs and law enforcement officers to instill fear and thwart the social, political and economic advancement of Black people,” Price said on Tuesday.
Price added the public officials who were complacent in the racial terror lynching were in direct violation of their responsibilities to protect and serve the people of Orange County.
“No evidence exists to indicate that elected officials of Orange County – that being the sheriff, commissioners or judges – did anything to prevent these lynchings, or to prosecute those who performed, aided or abetted these actions or were otherwise complicit in this racial terror,” said Price.
Orange County Commissioner Renée Price speaking at the Whitted Building in Hillsborough in 2019. (Dakota Moyer/Chapelboro.com)
The board also approved a marker to document the history of racial terror lynchings that claimed the lives of more than 120 Black people in North Carolina, specifically the five which took place in Orange County.
“This is something that was long overdue,” Price said.
The marker will be placed on the southeast corner of the lawn at the Orange County Old Courthouse in Hillsborough. Another historical marker was also approved earlier this year in Carrboro, which will be located outside of the Carrboro Town Hall.
The Orange County Community Remembrance Coalition has partnered with the Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), who will provide both of the markers. The EJI will supply them at no cost for Orange County, excluding the installation.
The proposal noted the markers may take several months to complete once EJI receives site authorization and documentation.
If vandalized or damaged, EJI will replace the markers at zero cost.
Steven Arndt, the Assessment Management Services Director of Orange County, said the EJI is dedicated to supporting communities across the nation in confronting historical trauma and advancing truth-telling at the local level.
“Historical markers are a compelling tool that can help create a permanent record of racial terror violence and expose an entire community to our shared history of racial justice,” Arndt said.
Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our biweekly newsletter.
Comments on Chapelboro are moderated according to our Community Guidelines