The destroyed Confederate statue protesters toppled in Durham in 2017 should be placed in a nearby building in its current state, the committee tasked with researching its future said on Tuesday.
The Durham City-County Committee on Confederate Monuments and Memorials’ report to the city's Commission also provides suggestions for the statue’s base and other Confederate remnants throughout Durham.
Interpretive text would accompany the statue to explain its history, according to the committee’s suggestions. The city would keep the original base but add pillars to honor Union soldiers and slaves. It would also compile a list of all Confederate monuments and Confederate-related names of buildings in Durham.
"We were trying to find, as they say, an elegant solution, one that represented our thinking and what we had heard but also was not illegal and was cognizant of the trauma that Confederate statues and remnants of the Confederacy and white supremacy have upon many people in our community,” committee member Barbara Lau said.
Though the monument was crushed beyond repair, the committee opted to leave the statue in its current state if it moves to a new location.
“We felt that the monument itself obviously is a very powerful symbol. It's something that evokes a lot of emotion and feelings in people in a variety of ways,” Lau said. “We really had this sense that the monument coming down in Durham was a part of this story of our community grappling with history.”
Lau emphasized the importance of community engagement in the decision-making process. As they developed their ideas, the committee took suggestions through meetings and an online form where Durham residents could comment.
Responses to the form ranged from placing the statue back in its original position to discarding it, but some comments reflected ideas later presented in the committee report.
Eight public meetings provided additional opportunities for input.
