The confederate monument in Edenton that was the center of a long legal battle was taken down over the weekend, and the town’s mayor is pushing back on claims that the move is “erasing history.”
Crews removed the statue Saturday night, just days after a Superior Court judge dissolved a restraining order that had blocked the monument’s relocation since March 2023.
Protests have occurred at the site of the monument every weekend for the past three years.
The statue was placed in storage, where it will remain until it is reinstalled at Veterans Memorial Park behind the Chowan County Courthouse, as outlined in a Memorandum of Understanding between the town and the county.
Mayor W. Hackney High rejected the claim that Edenton is trying to wipe away history, calling that a misinformed view and saying the monument is being relocated, not removed, and instead of erasing history town leaders are preserving and protecting it.
Meanwhile, a Durham-based group is assessing whether to move forward with its pending lawsuit against the town of Edenton and Chowan County over the monument.
Jake Sussman is the lawyer for the Southern Coalition for Social Justice.
“Over the weekend, they took down the monument," he said, "And I think everybody who I've spoken to really welcomes that and applauds the town for following through on that, but is concerned that the town and the county still plan to follow through on putting this up at the courthouse, which we think creates real legal issues.”
