Culture

Tensions Appear To Be Rising In Durham, North Carolina In The Wake Of Charlottesville

Protesters tore down a Confederate monument that stood since 1924 in Durham, North Carolina Monday evening, then took to the streets to protest the white supremacist rally which led to three dead and 19 injured in Charlottesville, Virginia over the weekend.

The planned protest was scheduled to meet around the Confederate monument, which was located on county property outside the Durham courthouse and has been the center of controversy for years. The base of the monument read “In memory of the boys who wore the gray,” and has been defaced with spray paint before. Protestors have attempted to use policy to take down the statue in the past, but North Carolina laws have prevented any changes to historical monuments. CBS North Carolina received an email from Durham County spokeswoman Dawn Dudley, explaining:

“Due to a North Carolina state law passed a few years ago, Durham County is prohibited from removing or making substantive alteration to historical monuments and memorials. I share this to say that there is a statute in place making the efforts you mention below difficult to move forward. I would assume that the only thing possible are steps to reverse the law.”

Eyewitness accounts detailed how a woman climbed the monument then put a rope around it until the crowd pulled to topple it over. The protesters then took to the streets to continue their march against white supremacy and hate.

Protesters then left signs in front of the Durham police station which read: “Cops and KKK go hand in hand.”

The protest took shape in Durham Sunday evening, when a vigil “in Support of Racial Justice and Equality and Opposition to White Supremacy and Hatred,” was interrupted by a crowd with bullhorns screaming “There’s a Confederate memorial right f*cking there,” before asking the vigil to join them.

(Via CBS North Carolina/WNCN