Two Charlotte Confederate Memorials Defaced

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Β CHARLOTTE, NC —Β Confederate monuments targeted in Charlotte. Someone took spray paint to a memorial near Old City Hall in Uptown, and concrete was smeared all over a monument at Memorial Stadium.Β 

The crimes come as debate rages over use of the Confederate flag, and the future of Confederate memorials across the Carolinas. State lawmakers could soon vote on a bill that would make it harder to remove controversial monuments.
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“No, I’m not surprised at all,” says Mecklenburg County Commissioner Matthew Ridenhour. “It was really only a matter of time.”
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Two Charlotte Confederate monuments defaced. One near City Hall in Uptown spray-painted with the word “racist”. The other, at Memorial Stadium, covered in concrete.
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Like the monuments themselves, the vandalism is controversial.Β 
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“I understand the frustration and all that, but at the end of the day vandalizing something is wrong,” says Charlotte barber shop owner Shaun Corbett. “It’s against the law.”
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“The one at American Legion Memorial Stadium is clearly racist.” says Dan Morril, Director of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission.
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By state law, the county and city would have to ask for and get permission to take down or move either monument.
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“I don’t think it would be extraordinarily expensive to move it,” says Morrill. “Maybe it would be a couple of thousand dollars. Now there’s another issue about whether should it be moved?”
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The Charlotte city council has yet to discuss its monuments. The Mecklenburg County commission is still deciding on what, if any, action it will take.Β 
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“It seems to me that the majority of commissioners, though we find the language offensive and from a bygone era, it’s still, there’s historical nature to that memorial and that marker,” says Ridenhour. “And there’s some value in keeping it there.”
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Vandalizing monuments may be just the tip of the iceberg. A social media trend where people shoot video of ripping down confederate flags is catching on.
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Charlotte barber Shaun “Lucky” Corbett works in the community, and says this type of reaction is nothing but dangerous.
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“We have to be vary careful that we’re not putting ourselves in positions to get hurt, or escalate any type of situation, make the situation worse than what it is,” says Corbett.
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The North Carolina General Assembly is moving forward with a bill banning the removal of public “objects of remembrance”. The bill passed the Senate in April. Opponents say it will protect Confederate memorials.

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