In the context of this artwork, explain the Reinstallation of the Disposition debate.
Thom Goolsby, board of governors member and former state senator, has said that the law is "perfectly clear": "Silent Sam needs to go back up on that same spot. Anything short of that is giving into mob rule and anarchy, and I won't agree with it."The administrative board of the library stated publicly that it did not want the statue in any university library, and recommended that it go to a location such as Raleigh's North Carolina Museum of History. On August 28, 41 department chairs in the College of Arts and Sciences sent a letter to Chancellor Folt opposing the return of Silent Sam to its pedestal or any prominent location on campus. At the end of August, 37 Chapel Hill faith leaders wrote an open letter saying that "returning Silent Sam to its previous location furthers the goal of those who originally put it there: venerating white supremacy, and denigrating people of color."Mayor of Chapel Hill Pam Hemminger had written the university on August 17, 2017, requesting that Silent Sam be moved (see above). On September 21, 2018, Mayor Hemminger and the entire town council wrote Folt and other UNC leaders:Prominent placement of the Silent Sam monument at McCorkle Place in downtown Chapel Hill is an offense to the entire Chapel Hill community, including African-American students, faculty members, university employees, local residents, and business persons who call Chapel Hill home, as well as to returning alumni and the countless fans and tourists who visit our Town every year. To them and to us, Silent Sam and its roots in pro-slavery, pro-segregation ideology represent the antithesis of the high value that UNC and the Town of Chapel Hill place on being a welcoming and inclusive place for all.
The Mayor also mentioned the threat to public safety, the negative impact on downtown Chapel Hill, and the "unsustainable strain" on finances and other resources that the statue represented.The North Carolina Attorney General, Josh Stein, also made a statement supporting the removal or relocation of "statues that...promote white supremacy".
North Carolina Attorney General white supremacy Thom Goolsby North Carolina Museum of History Josh Stein College of Arts and Sciences