The decision of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill to relocate the toppled Confederate statue to a new campus building has received strong opposition from students.
Hours after the university officials announced re-installation of controversial Silent Sam, a Confederate statue, on Monday, students held a protest march saying the move was giving space to white supremacy on campus.
“That law is a convenience for them, something to hide behind and say, ‘well, we can’t do anything,'” UNC student Tamia Sanders told CBS News.
The proposal was voted on by the board of trustees on Monday, after UNC System Board of Governors passed a resolution favoring relocation of the statute.
“Based on public safety, the plan states a preference for relocating the statue and the tablets to a secure off-campus location, such as the North Carolina Museum of History in downtown Raleigh. That option does not comply with current state law,” the university said in a statement.
“The best option that complies with the law is a new, free-standing building on campus. The plan proposes to build a new University History and Education Center on the site of the former Odum Village to teach and commemorate the University’s full history.”
In August, hundreds of protesting students brought down the statue saying that the installed one signified white supremacy. The statue, which was erected in 1913, was given by the United Daughters of the Confederacy in 1909 and has been a subject of controversy and protests in the last few years.
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