Letter: ​UNC should move statue out of courtesy

TO THE EDITOR:

I find myself struck by the debate over the Silent Sam statue. I understand that for some it is a symbol of Southern heritage. For others it is a symbol of slavery.

I do not doubt that it is both. But here’s how I see it. I’m white. Suppose that I was a Southerner and that I was really into my heritage, displaying symbols of such in my home. Furthermore, suppose that I was these things and in no way racist.

Now suppose that I invite a black family over to my home for dinner. I would have the sense to understand that they would view these symbols that I’ve displayed in my home very differently. I would have the common courtesy to put these symbols away when they came over. Nor would I erect a statue of a Confederate soldier in my front yard to greet them as they arrived.

But this is exactly what we have done. Funded by the Daughters of Confederacy, we erected Silent Sam in 1913. We started inviting black students to dinner in 1951.http://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/41/

http://museum.unc.edu/exhibits/integration/the-first-black-law-students-in-1951-harvey-beech-/

But this is where the analogy fails. Our black students are not guests. They are as much a part of UNC as our white students, as are our students of all races. So why do we continue to display so divisive a symbol, quite literally, in our front yard?

One of my ancestors fought in the Civil War. He is, technically, part of my heritage. But realistically, he is but a footnote, over 150 years removed, from anything having to do with how I identify myself today.

So what is to be done?

I propose the following: Standing in the historic rotunda of Morehead Planetarium and Science Center is a similarly sized statue of James Polk — the only UNC alumus to have ever served as president. Furthermore, historians rank him as one of our better presidents — in the top 20 according to Wikipedia.http://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/26/

Let’s swap the statues. Let’s move Silent Sam indoors to a more appropriate, historic, museum setting, and bring President Polk, not only a symbol of N.C. heritage but more germanely, a symbol of UNC heritage, out in its place.https://www.whitehouse.gov/1600/presidents/jamespolk

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Historical_rankings_of_Presidents_of_the_United_States

If the South Carolina legislature could find the courage — and the common courtesy — to remove the Confederate flag from its state grounds, we can find the courage to do this and to act at least as quickly and decisively as, well, a bunch of South Carolina politicians.http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2015/07/10/south-carolina-confederate-flag/29952953/

Prof. Dan Reichart

Physics and astronomyhttp://physics.unc.edu/people/dan-reichart/