Confederate Monument Removal

In our role as partners we often share leadership with other organizations focused on a particular justice issue, such as our partnership with the N.C. Commission on Racial and Ethnic Disparities (NC CRED) in the Confederate Removal Project. We are working to see that confederate monuments are removed from courthouse lawns. No one should enter a courthouse seeking justice while passing by memorials to a system that perpetrated injustice. Once this goal is reached in all 100 N.C. counties, our work will end.

Overview

The North Carolina Council of Churches joins NC CRED and its national allies in urging the removal of all such “Confederate monuments, memorials, flags, plaques, and other symbols and markers of racism and white supremacy, from all public spaces on, around, or within all property upon which courthouses or judicial offices of any kind are located.”

Resources

N.C. Confederate Monument Catalog

As of 2020, the Southern Poverty Law Center estimated that there are approximately 1,750 “Confederate monuments, place names and other symbols still in public spaces, both in the South and across the nation.” Approximately ten percent of these monuments can be found in North Carolina. Click here to view the catalog of confederate monuments in North Carolina.

Monument: The Untold Story of Stone Mountain

Monument is a documentary film that delves into the controversial history of Stone Mountain, the largest Confederate monument in the world, located in Atlanta, Georgia. The film includes the origin of the carving and the complicated relationships between historical events and key players who established the monument. This documentary is designed to inspire deeper learning and conversation about history that we as a state, and a country, share. Watch here.

Whose Heritage? Public Symbols of the Confederacy (Third edition)

This report, published by the Southern Poverty Law Center, has five parts in addition to its public map and dataset. This Third Edition of Whose Heritage? builds upon and expands the first and second editions. Click here to access the report.

Cash Bail Reform Issue Statements

The Council takes positions on issues through policy statements that inform, guide, and frame our work. Policy statements are adopted by our governing body, often upon the recommendation of one or more of the Council’s program committees which are made up of representatives of our member bodies.

Remove Confederate Symbols Where Justice Is Sought (1/26/2021)
Confederate-themed monuments: Time to reassess (9/21/2017)

Key Contact

Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director

jennifer@ncchurches.org

Jennifer is a native of South Carolina and an ordained minister in The United Methodist Church. She loves South Carolina, but has managed to spend all but ten years of her adult life in North Carolina. Those ten years were spent pastoring United Methodist churches across the Upstate. She attended Duke University several times and in the process earned a BA, double majoring in English and Religion, a Master of Divinity, a PhD in religion, and a Graduate Certificate in Women’s Studies. Prior to coming to the Council, she spent 16 years as the United Methodist Chaplain at Duke University, where she also taught undergraduate and divinity school classes, served on committees and task forces, and attended lots of basketball games. She writes frequently for various publications when time permits and preaches regularly in congregations across North Carolina. Jennifer has two adult children, Nathan, who is a software developer in Durham, and Hannah, who is a digital marketing analyst in Charlotte. Jennifer is the overjoyed grandparent of Benjamin and Theodore.

Overview

Resources

N.C. Confederate Monument Catalog

Monument: The Untold Story of Stone Mountain

Whose Heritage? Public Symbols of the Confederacy (Third edition)

Cash Bail Reform Issue Statements

Cash Bail Partner Organizations

North Carolina Commission on
Racial & Ethnic Disparities
in the Criminal Justice System (NC CRED)

Ways to Take Action

Join the Campaign to Remove Confederate Monuments

Latest News

Edenton Confederate Monument Removal Stalled

Key Contact

Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director

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Overview

Key Contact

Rev. Dr. Jennifer Copeland, Executive Director

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