UNC students try delivering letter to United Daughters of the Confederacy of NC, but get turned away
DURHAM, North Carolina (WTVD) -- The United Daughters of the Confederacy of North Carolina is having its annual convention at the Sheraton Hotel in Durham.
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Four activists thought that would be a good time to deliver a letter to ask the group to take their side in the fight to remove Confederate monuments, including Silent Sam on UNC's campus.
"She did not want to talk to us and asked us to leave," said Maya Little, one of the activists who is also a student at UNC-Chapel Hill.
When asked for comment, the president of the chapter, Peggy Johnson, said the group doesn't usually make any comments for the media. On the matter of monuments, she would only say that activists need to read the history behind the Confederacy and the monuments. She also said that when they have spoken to activists in the past, she felt it was always a one-sided conversation.
Little is getting her doctorate in history at UNC. She, like many other who have been protesting these monuments, said she believes it glorifies the Confederacy and slavery.
The United Daughters of the Confederacy dedicated the Silent Sam statue on campus. In August, its national president released a statement online about the controversy surrounding the monuments.
United Daughters of the Confederacy president statement on Confederate monuments
In part the statement reads: "The United Daughters of the Confederacy totally denounces any individual or group that promotes racial divisiveness or white supremacy. And we call on these people to cease using Confederate symbols for their abhorrent and reprehensible purposes."
That statement is why Little and others thought it would be a good time to reach out to North Carolina's chapter to ask about relocating the statues.
"I think they do care about students, to consider student safety, to consider inclusivity and making sure students have a safe learning environment," Little said.
