Give Credit Where Credit Is Due; Replace "Silent Sam" with a Memorial to Dean Smith

Despite the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill's reputation as a liberal/progressive mecca (Jesse Helms frequently referred to it as the "University of Negroes and Communists"), there is a gigantic racist elephant in the room that only enters the public discourse once or twice every few years. The outrage is usually focused at Silent Sam, a memorial to Confederate casualties of the Civil War that is arguably the most prominently placed monument on campus. I don't necessarily disagree with installations honoring Confederate veterans/casualties (if within reason/tastefully located) because as the costliest (in terms of total casualties) conflict in our nation's history, the Civil War shouldn't be forgotten no matter how deplorable one side's beliefs may have been. What I do have a problem with however, is how monuments to the Confederacy come to be. For example, Silent Sam was primarily funded by the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a lovely little group of ladies masquerading as descendants of the Southern aristocracy. They are the group that argues for institutions' right to display the Rebel Cross, raises money for Confederate monuments/memorials, and engages in many other forms of historical revisionism that intend to replace facts with their fairy tale version of the Civil War. 

****If you are from the South, you can probably skip ahead to the solution. If you're a "Northerner", here's a brief explanation (from my perspective) of race/class dynamics in the South.****

Why? Because the whole "heritage not hate" thing is a way for southern whites to comfort themselves over the fact that black people are also, in fact, people. It's also a form of self-denial. It's a desperate last grasp to stay on top. I realize that as a direct descendent of a Confederate general and owners of a large South Carolina cotton plantation (that yes, owned many slaves), my critique may seem classist. Probably because it is; why else would you take pride in being a loser unless you literally had nothing else to be proud about? The true "Southern gentleman" would graciously concede defeat and follow with some serious introspection about the value (or lack-thereof) of their own beliefs, not continue to beat a dead fucking horse for over a century. 

So why would people not just give up on it after a while? Well, it lies within the inherent disingenuousness of a lot of Confederate revisionists. Want to know a great part about the Civil War? If you were a poor white person that owned neither land nor slaves, the complete societal breakdown that occurred during wartime and Reconstruction afterward gave you a chance to reinvent yourself, even if that new start wasn't entirely true. "See that empty plantation house over there? Used to be mine, but them damn Federal Occupiers gave it away." During Reconstruction, uneducated whites were pretty much unaffected because they didn't have any assets to lose (whiteness can't be taken away, but its power in society can be eroded). Many formerly wealthy landowners lost everything. But since those landowners were educated (most of the time), they went off and did something else to earn their livelihood and lived happily ever after. In fact, the destruction of the slave-based economy allowed for a great level of diversification in enterprise that is still continuing in the South today. The antebellum south was very much defined by its rigid social strata. At the bottom were slaves, at the top were the landowners (who many times were also the most prolific slaveowners as well), and just barely above slaves in the pyramid were all the uneducated white people (think the Ewells in To Kill a Mockingbird). Too poor to own land or slaves, the only thing that gave them any sort of position was their whiteness. This is how absurd the whole system was. In the aftermath of the Civil War, all the white-trash peons just hung on to this idealized picture of the antebellum south, and in many cases (falsely) reclaimed it. That was quite the digression, but that's how you get membership in an organization such as the UDC.

Back to UNC. Many buildings and public art installations on campus have drawn scrutiny. A few are considered here. But think about this; Silent Sam was funded and promoted by an organization who's only gift to the University was the statue itself. What did all those soldiers who died contribute to the University? Probably next to nothing. At most, their impact on UNC wouldn't have been any different than any other student who has ever attended there. Is the University any different because of what they did? No, not really. So this is a monument for sake of having a monument. I understand the historical significance, so it shouldn't be removed entirely. However, giving prime real estate to a monument recognizing negligible contributions towards the community doesn't make sense.

SOLUTION:

There is a lot of disagreement about what UNC should do about its racist history. Yes, buildings should be renamed. But plaques should be installed in a very visible location detailing the building's former name and the controversy surrounding it. That's easy.

In an effort to compromise, some people have suggested that UNC keep Silent Sam and just put a plaque explaining the controversy next to it. Yeah, good idea. But stick that shit down on South Campus where nothing matters.

Dean Smith passed away last night at age 83 following a decade-long battle with dementia. When I lived in Chapel Hill, any time I would pass by the Old Well and saw news vans congregated, I was afraid they were there because Coach Smith passed away. So I would quickly check Twitter to make sure he was still with us. I found out early this morning. Dementia is a terrible condition. I saw it destroy my grandmother. It takes away so much of what makes a person special until there is nothing left. 

Coach Smith deserves a tribute proportional to his contribution to the University and the State of North Carolina. Besides almost singlehandedly transforming the Carolina basketball program into what we know today, Smith was a staunch advocate for social equality and progressive causes during his time in the public eye. He brought Charlie Scott to Carolina, silencing the critics and helping to accelerate desegregation in Chapel Hill. He called Governor Jim Black a murderer to his face.

Dean Smith's legacy is the foundation on which the Carolina community is built. Let's recognize it appropriately with a monument/memorial in the center of McCorkle Place.