Last week the North Carolina University system announced that it was giving a $2.5 million to a trust that would fund the preservation of Confederate statues, namely the "Silent Sam" statue that was toppled by protesters. Now it seems at least one job has been cut and a North Carolina State employee is questioning if it was as a result of the settlement.
The lawsuit is from the Sons of Confederate Veterans, which promotes southern states that waged war against the United States when it tried to abolish slavery.
"The preservation of liberty and freedom was the motivating factor in the South’s decision to fight the Second American Revolution," their website claims. "The tenacity with which Confederate soldiers fought underscored their belief in the rights guaranteed by the Constitution. These attributes are the underpinning of our democratic society and represent the foundation on which this nation was built. Today, the Sons of Confederate Veterans is preserving the history and legacy of these heroes, so future generations can understand the motives that animated the Southern Cause."
Under the terms outlined in the settlement, the Sons of Confederate Veterans will take the "Silent Sam" statue off campus, after it was toppled last year during protests. The Confederal group will “forever maintain possession of the monument outside any of the 14 counties currently containing a UNC System campus,” while UNC will set up a $2.5 million charitable trust, “using non-state funds,” for “certain limited expenses related to the care and preservation of the monument, including potentially a facility to house and display the monument.”
The statue was dedicated in 1913 where UNC trustee Julian Carr spoke about the importance of adopting white supremacist values.
According to one staffer, his team at NC State lost a position after a "demoralizing" process where his team was forced to "justify your existence" in a budget exercise.
My team at NC State recently lost a position. We also had to go through a super demoralizing "justify your existenc… https://t.co/FpCNiPAC3l— Brian DeConinck (@Brian DeConinck) 1575174964.0
It's unknown if the budget cuts are related to the $2.5 million settlement, and it's unclear where the funds came from in the university system for the state. But at least one staffer fears the two are related.
