ASHEBORO, N.C.-- In front of Randolph County’s Historic 1909 Courthouse stands a bronze Confederate soldier that has been there since 1911.
Last week, Dr. Wesley Fennell, the former NAACP President for Randolph County, asked that it be removed and replaced with one that honors Quakers. Fennell says that keeping the statue is “just not right,” and makes the community a less welcoming place for diversity, due to the values of the Confederacy.
It seems the conversation was over before it started. That's because a law signed in 2015 by Governor Pat McCrory prevents the removal of such monuments and statues in North Carolina.
READ: Senate Bill 22 or the Historic Artifact Managment and Patriotism Act was signed on July 23, 2015.
Protesters have called for the removal of statues in Virginia which precipitated the marches in Charlottesville on Saturday that ended violently. One person was killed and dozens were injured. The event started as a protest from White nationalist who were there to protest possible removal of the Robert E. Lee statue. The groups were met by hundreds of counter protesters and things quickly escalated.
After seeing what happened in Charlottesville, the mayor of Lexington, Kentucky announced plans to start the process of removing of two Confederate statues in the city.