Everyone’s been talking about it for the last week, but just in case you, dear reader, need context: on the night of August 20 a crowd of hundreds gathered to protest and eventually tear down Silent Sam—so much for that $390,000 spent on security last year, huh? Well wouldn’t you know it, you tear down one statue erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy to promote the pseudohistorical and white supremacist myth of the “Lost Cause,” and suddenly the good ol’ boys are bawling like they’ve seen the ghost of John Brown.
Among the white men who have had their feelings hurt by the statue’s removal is UNC Board of Governors member and former state senator Thomas Cowart Goolsby. Yes, Thomas Cowart Goolsby is the name of a real human being, and not an old man who dresses up as a ghost in an episode of "Scooby-Doo." Though I understand if you can’t tell the difference upon seeing him. Anyway, Goolsby’s been throwing a fit over Silent Sam on social media, insisting that as per law, the statue will be restored in 90 days — though no official statement about this has been released by the Board of Governors proper. Nonetheless, Goolsby’s been getting dramatic on Twitter promising "FELONY charges" and terming it a “#hatecrime.”
Speaking of which, Thom Goolsby’s most prominent action as North Carolina state senator was his major role in repealing the Racial Justice Act, which prohibited the imposition of the death penalty when race was found to be a significant factor in the sentencing — such as in the case of Marcus Raymond Robinson, who had been sentenced to death row until it was found that prosecutors had intentionally excluded qualified Black candidates from jury service. Between his passionate stance on Silent Sam and his work to remove protections against the death penalty for Black people, Goolsby certainly has some ... well, interesting and perhaps not unconnected political stances.
