#Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County

[dontmeantobepoliticalbut]

A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks the removal of a Confederate monument marked as “in appreciation of our faithful slaves” from outside of a North Carolina county courthouse.

The Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County, a civic group focused on issues facing local Black residents, and several of its members filed the lawsuit against the county’s commissioners. The legal complaint argues that the monument constitutes racially discriminatory government speech in violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

Tyrrell County includes a few thousand residents in eastern North Carolina. The monument, which was erected on the courthouse grounds in 1902, features a Confederate soldier standing atop a pedestal, with one of the markings below mentioning “faithful slaves.” The lawsuit argues that the monument conveys a racist and offensive message that Black people who were enslaved in the county preferred slavery to freedom.

“The point of putting such a monument near the door of the Tyrrell County Courthouse was to remind Black people that the county’s institutions saw their rightful place as one of subservience and obedience, and to suggest to them that they could not and would not get justice in the courts,” the lawsuit argues.

The Associated Press contacted the Tyrrell County manager via email requesting a comment on the lawsuit.

North Carolina legislators enacted a law in 2015 that limits when an “object of remembrance” such as a military monument can be relocated. Still, the lawsuit says more than a dozen Confederate monuments have been taken down in North Carolina in the past five years, many due to votes by local officials.

Others were removed by force. In 2018, protesters tore down a Confederate statue known as “Silent Sam” at the University of North Carolina campus at Chapel Hill. Statues of soldiers from the North Carolina Confederate Monument on the old Capitol grounds in Raleigh came down in June 2020. Gov. Roy Cooper, citing public safety, directed that the remainder of the monument and two others on Capitol grounds be removed.

Confederate monuments in North Carolina, as elsewhere nationwide, were a frequent focal point for racial inequality protests in the late 2010s, and particularly in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

The Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County wrote that they have fought for the courthouse monument’s removal for years, from testifying at county commission meetings to advertising on billboards.

[dixiedrudge]

Stretching An Amendment Badly! Black Community Organizers Claim Confederate Monument Violates 14th Amendment (NC)

Help Dixie Defeat Big-Tech Censorship! Spread the Word! Like, Share, Re-Post, and Subscribe! There’s a lot more to see at our main page, Dixie Drudge! A black community organizing group has filed a lawsuit against their North Carolina county, claiming that a Confederate monument is violating the 14th Amendment. (Gateway Pundit) – Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County claimed in the lawsuit that…

[tocitynews]

"IN APPRECIATION OF OUR FAITHFUL SLAVES." Is A Zinc Statue Resting On A Base Featuring A Bust Of Robert E. Lee In Front Of Tyrell County North Carolina Courthouse –Raleigh North Carolina reporting

A lawsuit was filed on Tuesday, May 21, in the Eastern District of North Carolina by a group called The Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County.

The plaintiffs claim the public monument violates the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment because it "expresses a racially discriminatory message."

The inscription on the statue promotes a "pro-slavery message and a pro-Confederate message," according to the lawsuit.

Ian Mance, another attorney for the plaintiffs, said the historical record is clear that the monument was meant to send a message.

"It was put up in the front yard of what was soon to be the Tyrrell County Courthouse, which opened a few months later, to communicate to people that members of the Black community could not expect to get justice inside of that courthouse," he said.

The lawsuit alleges the construction of the monument and the county's continued maintenance "communicates, on behalf of local government, the idea that Tyrrell's institutions regard Black people's rightful place as one of subservience and obedience" and that "Black people who were enslaved in Tyrrell County preferred their slavery to freedom."

➖ The monument was unveiled in 1902, nearly 40 years after the end of the Civil War. The event brought together politicians, officials and Confederate veterans, and was described by newspapers at the time as the "most momentous occasion ever celebrated in the county of Tyrrell," the suit states. That day, Thomas Gregory Skinner, a U.S. congressman and veteran of the Confederate army, gave a dedication speech marked by a "masterly defense of the cause of the South," according to the University of North Carolina's online inventory of the state's monuments, shrines, and commemorative public art.

[mongowheelie]

I found this on NewsBreak: Lawsuit Filed To Remove North Carolina Courthouse’s Confederate Monument For ‘Faithful Slaves’

I found this on NewsBreak: Lawsuit Filed To Remove North Carolina Courthouse’s Confederate Monument For ‘Faithful Slaves’