WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) – The conversation of Confederate monuments and their place in the community continued this week on the UNCW’s campus.
The National Black Leadership Caucus of New Hanover County and the Upperman African American center hosted the conversation. Several people involved with preserving the African American history of Wilmington and also a descendant of a Confederate general were a part of the discussion.
“We’re here for the long haul. We’re here regardless of the people who may think that they can wait us out because equality is important,” says Rev. Robert W Lee IV.
The debate of keeping or removing Confederate monuments or memorials has calmed down around the Cape Fear.
Crimes Against Humanity held it’s fourth discussion Tuesday, the topic, slavery and the Confederacy with Reverend Robert W Lee IV from Winston Salem. He’s a guest speaker. He has also received national recognition as a descendant of Confederate General Robert E Lee and promoting his stance on removing confederate monuments.
It’s a debate that the Governor took to the State Historical Commission. In late September he asked the commission to allow the removal of three monuments from the State Capitol grounds to a battlefield near Raleigh. The commission, mirroring the legislature, held off on voting about the issue.
“I’ve had conversations with some of our legislators and some of them seem to be willing to have and some of them don’t and it’s seems to be the people in power right now that don’t want to have those conversations,” says the reverend.
So it’s a conversation members of the local NAACP, the Black Leadership Caucus of New Hanover County and others will have, in which Reverend Lee hopes motivates those in the room to speak out to leaders who can do something about the issue.
“So I’d encourage them to really think about what it means to have these monuments in place and about the future of our state and what that means in contextualizing our history,” Rev. Lee IV adds.
The Reverend has since resigned from his North Carolina church and did not want to go into the resignation. The historical commission postponed a vote on removing the monuments to April.