“I would imagine the North Carolinians who lived with generations of deprivation would have a very different opinion about what that flag represents. All that suffering for an anachronistic economic system that was already unsustainable as the world headed toward the 20th century.”
“First off, let’s agree that anybody with an ounce of decency must feel a bit embarrassed that Asheville has given its top award for excellence to a man like Zebulon Baird Vance.”
Tempie Avery was a midwife, nurse and former slave of Asheville attorney and state senator Nicholas Woodfin.
“If we remove the Vance name and plaque, we will dispose of all positive and negative connotations imposed upon it. We will reduce it to its purest form — an obelisk of stone, sun and shadow. Now the monument is free.”
“Tolerating monuments such as the Vance obelisk teaches young people that the ownership of slaves was not important and certainly nothing to be considered shameful. But it is important and it is shameful, particularly in Asheville, where the ideal of social equality is so widely embraced.”
“Finally, if we are to remember our history as it actually happened, we need to place equally large monuments for those who suffered generations of brutal enslavement near every Confederate monument.”
“We should not be afraid to talk. And we should not cherry-pick Confederate monuments to tear down so that we may pat ourselves on the back and say, ‘Yay, I just ended white supremacy.'”
“There is a difference between memory and celebration, and most Confederate monuments are less about memory and more about the celebration of white supremacist control.”
Murder and outrage are frequent and the absence of civil law encourages the wickedly inclined.
Alas, alas! To travel from New Bern to Buncombe now would cause you many tears John, unless your heart is harder than I think it is.
In an effort to record the varied Civil War experiences passed down through N.C. familes, regional historians across the state are collecting narratives as part of the “Our State, Our Stories” Initiative. The stories gathered will be included in a new, state of the art North Carolina Civil War History Center in Fayetteville, scheduled to be completed by 2020.
“Will the America of the future — will this vast, rich Union ever realize what itself cost back there, after all?” – Walt Whitman In January 1863, at the height of the Civil War, Confederate soldiers of the 64th North Carolina Regiment, composed mostly of men from the western counties, marched into Shelton Laurel. Their […]
“More than a million horses died in the bloody four-year conflict, yet their vast contribution and sacrifice is often overlooked or ignored.”
“As a transplanted Northerner, I have always been amazed that the South wants to glorify its past Confederate history while being so quick to overlook its true history, both past and present, of violence, hate, impoverishment and economic and chattel slavery of people. “
Serena, which stars Jennifer Lawrence and Bradley Cooper, was filmed in the Czech Republic. Similarly, Civil War drama Cold Mountain, from the book by local author Charles Frazier, was filmed mostly in Romania. The World Made Straight, however, was a North Carolina production through and through, down to — and because of — its directors.
The discovery of Abraham Lincoln in a rare photo at the scene of the Gettysburg Address has put local professor Christopher Oakley in the national spotlight as the 150th anniversary of the president’s famed oratory approaches.
From Christmas to solstice, the holidays are everywhere. But what if you need a break from the festivities? This week’s CalCast offers a respite from holiday cheer with a few events that don’t feature Santa and his elves.
Christmas might seem far away, but you wouldn’t know that from this weekend’s calendar. Towns near and far are showing off their good spirits. But don’t worry, if you’re not in the mood, we’ve sprinkled a few non-holiday events in with the mix.
Intent on his task, a blond-headed child with pink, chubby cheeks plants a miniature Confederate battle flag on a gravesite in a little church cemetery. The placid image dominates the cover of a booklet on Confederate issues published by the N.C. Division of the Sons of Confederate Veterans. Within the SCV’s ranks, however, a battle […]
