Press Conference: Randolph County's Confederate Monument

The Asheboro/Randolph County Chapter of the NAACP are hosting a Press Conference in support of placing the Confederate Monument located outside the historic Courthouse in a museum. The Asheboro/ Randolph County Chapter of the NAACP will hold a press conference at the George Washington Carver Community Enrichment Center, 950 Martin Luther King Jr. Dr, on Tuesday, August 17, 2021. The Asheboro / Randolph County Chapter of the NAACP will be premiering a series of short videos that chronicle the true history of Randolph County in relation to our participation in the Civil War, the local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy’s support for the factually incorrect “Lost Cause” ideology , as well as information that supports our belief that the Confederate monument located in front of the Old Randolph County Courthouse should be taken down and placed in a museum. The series of videos created by the Asheboro/ Randolph County Chapter of the NAACP will showcase how Randolph County’s true history is antithetical to a community of people that supported the Confederacy. The videos will showcase the facts that: 01. Randolph County voted 2579 to 45 to stay in the United States, 02. Randolph County was a haven for runaway slaves and Confederate deserters, 03. Randolph County citizens fought for the United States in the Civil War but are not mentioned on the Confederate Monument, and 04. At least 14 citizens of Randolph County were executed for refusing to join the Confederacy. The position of the Asheboro/ Randolph County Chapter of the NAACP is that these events in Randolph County history tell the true story of who we were during the Civil War. Further, we believe that a 30ft. monument honoring the Confederacy, placed in front of our county courthouse dishonors this history. These videos will also show that our local chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, (the ones who championed the monument’s erection) were complicit in the promotion of the “Lost Cause” ideology. We will show that our local United Daughters of the Confederacy supported the removal of history books that portrayed the Confederacy in its true light. For instance, the Randolph County chapter of the United Daughters of the Confederacy had procedures in place to have history books that were not pro Confederacy removed. A history book named “Young People’s History of North Carolina” was endorsed by the United Daughters of the Confederacy. This book states that slaves were happy in their condition, and they were better off than their relatives in Africa. The book goes on to glorify the Ku Klux Klan also. We can also show that the local United Daughters of the Confederacy supported banquets and events honoring the Ku Klux Klan. The series of videos created by the Asheboro/ Randolph County Chapter of the NAACP will put in plain terms why we feel the Confederate monument does not belong in front of our old courthouse. We will showcase the over 600 slave deeds recording the sale of human beings in Randolph County. Some of these people were less than 1 year old. Most were sold by themselves, no mother, no siblings, just individual slaves sold apart from their families. These videos will also showcase the actual statements from Confederate legislatures that highlight their desire to leave the United States in order to keep, and expand slavery, as well as form a White supremacists state. For these reasons, the Asheboro/ Randolph County Chapter of the NAACP believes that in pursuit of true justice, the Confederate monument in front of the Old Randolph County Courthouse should be moved to a museum. As the true history reveals, this monument does not represent the racial and culturally diverse society that Asheboro and Randolph County has become. Its prominent and symbolic location, in front of our historic seat of justice is a traumatic reminder to many families living here today, whose ancestors suffered for centuries in the holocaust of slavery’s cruelty, stolen labor and human/child trafficking. It’s placement also disrespects the many heroes in Randolph County’s history that opposed the Confederacy, many of whom lost their lives. We stand with all Randolph County citizens who do not embrace the ideology of white supremacy with the rallying call “this does not represent us, we are Randolph County!”