By Shawn Nowlin
Recently, Roanoke College, a private liberal arts institution established in 1842, placed a sign directly next to the Confederate statue on its campus explaining the ownership of the monument and the school’s inability to remove it despite what the majority of faculty and students want.
In part, it reads, “Roanoke County sold the courthouse building and surrounding land to Roanoke College in 1987 but retains ownership of the Confederate monument and the land underneath it. Roanoke County’s monument connects us to a past that will not be part of our future. This is not our monument.”
In Salem, a city of about 26,000 people where Roanoke College resides, a healthy percentage of the residents agree with Roanoke County’s decision to keep the statue where it is. Among that group is Tammy Smith, a lifelong Republican.
“I understand my opinion is not shared by everyone, but I don’t think honoring our country’s past automatically makes you a racist,” she said. “These types of conversations are happening all over the country, from the reddest of the red cities to the bluest of the blue. As passionate as I am about keeping the Confederate statue where it’s been for years, I know just as many fellow Americans wholeheartedly disagree.”
Democrat Makayla Williams believes that Confederate statues should exist, just not in public places where descendants of slavery are constantly reminded of what their ancestors endured.
“Monuments like this Confederate statue force people to have very difficult conversations. When I engage in real talk with my Caucasian friends, they acknowledge our country’s horrific past, but I still don’t think they truly get it,” Williams said.
For decades, the College has battled Roanoke County over relocating the statue to a different location. Former President Michael Maxey played a vital role in the school’s “Not Our Monument Project” movement.
When Roanoke College allegedly offered to pay for the monument’s removal, the County declined. On the front lines of the fight to relocate the statue is the Center for Studying Structures of Race at Roanoke College.
Only time will tell whether the Confederate statue is removed. If she has oxygen in her body, Veronica Cruz says she’ll fight for the side that history will judge favorably.
“Growing up, I didn’t truly grasp the magnitude of Confederate monuments. This was in part because my schoolbooks at the time omitted a lot of convenient details. No pun intended, but this will always be a Black and White issue to many,” Cruz said. “I encourage people to do their own research instead of relying solely on text in books that were written by people who likely didn’t look like them.”
