Residents in Tyrrell County, North Carolina are demanding that a pro-slavery Confederate statue be removed from outside their courthouse.
A group called Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday against the county’s Board of Commissioners to remove the statue.
The more than 20-foot-tall monument is in front of the county courthouse. It features a Confederate soldier standing atop a tall pedestal with the inscription “In appreciation of our faithful slaves” written underneath.
(Photo courtesy of Ian Mance)
The group argues that the monument violates the 14th Amendment’s Equal Protection Clause because it “expresses a racially discriminatory message.”
The statue was a gift to the county in 1902 from Confederate Army Lt. Col. William F. Beasley. The courthouse opened the following year.
The group argues that the county’s continued maintenance of the monument “communicates, on behalf of local government, the idea that Tyrrell’s institutions regard Black people’s rightful place as one of subservience and obedience” and that “Black people who were enslaved in Tyrrell County preferred their slavery to freedom.”
Concerned Citizens say they spoke at county commissioner meetings and held protests against the monument for years, but so far all their attempts have failed.
Members of the group say they faced racial intimidation by other residents during previous attempts to remove the statue. Two Black residents alleged in the lawsuit that they faced armed supporters and were driven off the side of roads due to their activism.
“It’s really a racially hostile environment for them at this point in the county because they’re well known for having spoken out against this statue,” Jaelyn Miller, attorney for Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County said. “It’s made some folks fearful to continue doing rallies and demonstrations because of that.”
