Son Of South On Silent Sam

He doesn’t like it but he’s keeping his shoes on rather than taking them off to pummel the old boy with. “Although my love of state history is broad and deep, it does not extend to the Confederacy itself, the founding principles of which I view with contempt,” John Hood writes in The Carolina Journal. “Not only do I celebrate the abolition of slavery, the destruction of Jim Crow, and the expansion of freedom, but I also believe these events deserve far more official commemoration than North Carolina has yet erected.”

“I admire the planned North Carolina Freedom Park, for example. To be constructed in Raleigh on land between the General Assembly complex and the Executive Mansion, the park would ‘celebrate the enduring contributions of African Americans in North Carolina who struggled to gain freedom and enjoy full citizenship.'”

“Similarly, the Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation has just announced its Inclusive Public Arts Initiative, which will fund up to 10 new projects across the state with grants of up to $50,000 each. The intent is to ‘share stories of diversity, equality, inclusion and equity as they relate to the people and places of North Carolina, especially those whose stories have not been or are often untold,’ the Foundation stated.”

“Why not erect more monuments and public art to commemorate a broader range of individuals, movements, and events?” Why not indeed.

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