The banning of the Confederate Flag by the Chapel Hill-Carrboro City School (CHCCS) district, in response to August’s white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, sent a powerful message to the community that the district would not tolerate hate or discrimination.
How would students focus on learning if a fellow classmate were wearing an emblem that represents the subjugation of their entire race?
Although CHCCS has made strides against discrimination, the University of North Carolina (UNC) has been unable to make a similar statement due to the state’s legislation, despite many protests to remove the campus’s statue of Confederate soldier Silent Sam
Black students have to walk by the statue every day to get to their classes, and every day that it remains standing is a reminder of the racism that is still so prevalent, even in the “liberal bubble” of Chapel Hill. As a well respected university, UNC must show that it supports all of its students and will not stand for racism.
