Focus on Silent Sam and analyze the Political repercussions.
According to the Carolina Journal in September 2018, the controversy surrounding Silent Sam was becoming a political issue that could affect the 2018 elections in the state, "a development that, in most cases, would hurt Democrats". In a September poll, 76% of swing voters and 93% of Republicans disapproved of the toppling; as did 44% of Democrats, versus 41% who approved.Also according to the Carolina Journal, the Silent Sam affair has national implications: "As public universities bend under the force of rampant — sometimes violent — political unrest, all eyes turn to UNC-Chapel Hill, where the toppling of a Confederate statue recharges a national conversation about public safety and the future of free speech... The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill is poised to set a national example of allowing lawful protest while protecting free speech. But campus administrators and law enforcers so far have come up short, some experts say."
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Carolina Journal University of North Carolina Confederate