Pittsboro, NC – We asked what should happen to the statue in front of the Chatham County courthouse in Pittsboro?
Over 5,500 votes were cast and the results from the Chatham Journal online poll are in. 75.6 percent (4,196 votes) said that the statue in front of the Chatham County historic courthouse should stay. Only 24.4 percent (1,345 votes) said the statue should be moved.
The poll was first announced on April 16 and ran through April 30. Folks were made aware of the poll via the Chatham Chatlist, as well as Facebook and Twitter.
Comments on the Facebook post about the poll include:
- It should STAY. You cannot re-write history and those that do. Are bound to repeat it! – V Elmore
- Ignorance will take it down – A Lewis
- Go! History is not lost by the removal of a statue honoring those who fought against freedom – L Webster
- Stay. The Taliban destroys history, not Americans. Only people like the Taliban and ISIS try to erase history. – M Miller
- To take down the statue is like an invitation for terrorist groups to move into your town. – R Moss
- It is the ignorance of people crying out for these statues to be removed. Who are they? Blacks involved in radical exploits? College age students who need to be focused on their classes instead of demanding statues be removed from campuses? I know it is not a cry coming from a generation who believe we learn from past errors. These people were real. You can not erase what happened during the civil war era. People need to stop this foolishness and government leaders need to stop pacifying a few and instead listen to the general population – P Hagar
The post to vote was shared over 500 times on Facebook and garnered additional comments:
- Stay up why change now if not broke leave it alone we are one nation under God and liberty for all leave it alone – T. Hagerman
- Bye bye. Daughters of Confederacy propaganda campaign to intimidate African Americans 100 years ago has no place now. Unfortunately, the poll results show that people in Chatham county are still racist and/or uneducated – M. Oles
- Please vote to get this removed it was a slave station where they sold slaves – S. Jones
- It’s been there all of my life I can’t manage it not being there – C. Edwards
- I always feel at home, and safe when i’ve been out of town and approach our beautiful building. It’s always been like je’s protecting our town. My hearts yearns for tolerance and understanding for this sculpture. As Mr. Gene Brooks stated, we used you honor our ancestors, respect family and friends for fighting to protect our land. In my heart the pronoun “Our” being ALL inclusive. – B. Harris
- That meeting Monday was a staged play. The Commissioners had already made their minds up. They care nothing about what Chatham Co Citizens think. – D. Seagroves
- It definitely was just for show. Calling in everyone to voice their opinions like they actually care about them and then doing what the Chatham Democratic Party had already made a motion to do. It’s a sham. The majority of people want the statue left alone but the Democrats don’t care for the majority opinion because they think their opinion is so much better. – T. Thrift
- It’s so damn stupid that this is even an issue…. F’n ridiculous! – D Grave
- No reason for it to be moved it needs to stay – B. Popp
- It should stay! A lot of men died fighting that didn’t believe in fighting…they were forced to do so or be shot. Families were totured for not telling where there family member was hiding. Many deserted after serving the year they were told would be all they had to do. Then wouldn’t let them go home to farm and take care of there families. Etc. Etc. Etc. – A. Brown
- It should stay. It’s a shame folks don’t know history and understand the Northern aggression that was being done on the South when it came to banking, finance and trade. Those were real issues just as much as slavery. – E. Gill
- It can be removed, but that doesn’t change history. It should remain where it is – S. Martin
- I want to vote in the poll to see if the commissioners should stay or go. – S. Brown
- My ancestors fought, suffered, and died to defend our right to determine our own fate on a state-by-state basis. My ancestors did NOT own slaves or condone slavery. This statue honors the people who gave life and limb to protect us from people like Sherman… – J. Strum
The Chatham County commissioners voted to instruct the Chatham County attorney to examine the legal steps necessary to move the statue.