Opinion: The University failed to promote its own scholarship

On Sunday, a number of individuals sporting Confederate flags sauntered over here to campus for a demonstration in support of Silent Sam. These individuals were met by vociferous opposition by counter-demonstrators.

In preparation for these events, the chancellor’s office released a message, signed by Chancellor Carol Folt, Provost Jim Dean, Vice Chancellor for Student Affairs Winston Crisp and Department of Public Safety Director Jeff McCracken.

The message contained useful public safety information, but ultimately, its framing of the event failed to uphold the most sacred values of the University.

The message said, “We want to do everything possible to make sure that such debate takes place in a safe and democratic fashion as has been the tradition on our campus for decades. How our past is remembered and represented on our campus is important to us all, and people have different opinions about how best to do it.”

It went on to say, “We truly believe differing views can and should be shared in open debate and discourse and we hope all participants will honor this aspiration.”

This statement fails to pass the standards of the University and the scholarship it must promote.

Several UNC professors have made their conclusions about the historical meaning of Silent Sam and the display of the Confederate flag public. According to historical scholarship, these symbols are shrouded in a history of racial violence, white supremacy and public intimidation of black people.

On these facts, there is no real “debate” to be had.

In an statement to The Daily Tar Heel defending the message from the chancellor’s office, University spokesperson Jim Gregory argued “extreme points of view” are often shared on the grounds of the University, and the University doesn’t have a responsibility to choose sides.

But this isn’t just any case. Students have been campaigning for greater understanding of the historically racist meaning of monuments on this campus for years now. The chancellor and her office have had plenty of opportunities to hear the evidence for what these monuments actually represent. Indeed, Crisp is on the task force charged with contextualizing campus history.

It is the job of the University and its leaders to seek and promote truth. When the scholarship generated by the University’s own researchers supports one side’s interpretation so strongly, the University can no longer be neutral or fall back on vacuous statements of public relations.

A group of people waving Confederate flags on UNC’s campus cannot be looked at in a vacuum.

It’s true the message from the chancellor’s office was rightfully focused on safety. Safety must be a top priority. It should be said the University did a good job of ensuring everyone’s physical safety, but physical safety isn’t everything.

The historical meaning of people waving Confederate flags rallying around a statue raised in an era of resurgent white supremacy also has its effects on the mental safety of students. This isn’t to say the University could have or should have barred Silent Sam supporters from campus. While inequities in the availability of free speech to different groups should be noted, clearly the University should not attempt to restrict the speech of any group.

Still, the pro-Confederate protestors were not benign, and it behooves the University to make clear it has mental health resources available for people who reasonably feel their personhood is under attack from people defending the vestiges of a rebel state that fought for racialized slavery. And again, on that point, the historical record is clear.

Pretending otherwise is analogous to pretending man-made climate change isn’t real.

At its core, a university doesn’t exist to pacify people, it exists to discover and promote truth. When UNC’s leaders remain neutral on the issues generated by its own scholarship, they fail the core values of the University.