CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) – The national debate over removing Confederate symbols from U.S. college campuses is spurring wider questions about university benefactors whose ties to slavery or white supremacy flew under the radar in decades past.
Students and alumni are no longer simply opposing overt Confederate memorials, but also lesser-known founders and donors with troubling racial legacies. And the discussions have intensified after deadly white nationalist protests in August in Charlottesville, Virginia.
The problem is apparent at the University of North Carolina, where opposition to a Confederate statue has dredged up racist statements by a former trustee. Tobacco magnate Julian S. Carr, himself a Confederate veteran, gave the dedication speech in 1913 for the campus statue depicting an anonymous rebel soldier. His remarks included a reference to the “pleasing duty” of whipping a black woman in public.
“He stood out here and stood in front of a crowd of people and bragged about how he drug a ‘negro wench’ through the streets for insulting a white woman,” said Gabrielle Johnson, a student who helped organize a sit-in against the statue nicknamed “Silent Sam.” ”I don’t see how that embodies anything other than hatred.”
UNC’s chancellor has said a state historic monument law prevents the university from removing “Silent Sam.” But the fresh attention to Carr has spurred wider conversations about his legacy at UNC and nearby Duke University, where part of campus was built on land donated by Carr. Both schools are home to a “Carr Building” and have convened panels on how to handle controversial building names.