Addressing Chatham Chatlist Statue items

Date: Mon, 15 Apr 2019 14:07:30 +0000
From: “Cockrum, Danie”
Subject: RE: Statue talk…

I want to address several statue items from the 4/13 chatlist edition.

First.
“Why is one ok and the other is not?”. GM raises a valid argument here.  Have you ever noticed that it’s really easy to point a finger at someone when you think THEY’RE the one doing something wrong, but you can’t seem to recognize those same mistakes in ourselves?

It’s like going on a hunger strike against Tuna.  That would be easy enough if you didn’t like Tuna. You would still have other options, but what if that was all you the meat that you had access to? Not so easy then, huh?

It’s the same thing with some closed-minded individuals. It’s too easy to write off the statue as “it’s just about slavery” and “get rid of it”. They still have other options, but trying to get people to think past that the slavery part… may be asking too much. Not to mention that it was their own people who sold them into slavery in the first place.
So, for all those who want the statue removed? Let’s see you give up everything you’ve ever purchased that was manufactured by slave labor and refuse to purchase anything else from those countries in the future. Only then will you have a right to have any say in whether or not to remove the statue.

Second.
Sheila – I’m sorry, but you would be incorrect. Being new to Chatham, especially from Chapel Hill doesn’t necessarily or automatically give you a right to an opinion on the matter and in the situation… all opinions are NOT equal. Chathamites that were born and raised here with families going back for 100 years+ maybe, but we’re definitely not all treated equally. Just look at the last several meeting notes.  Generally only the opinions of the “have-it-alls” in Fearrington are taken into account when decisions are being made.  Pittsboro doesn’t look to those who have been here the longest and would have a better idea of what would be best for Chatham County.  Maybe if the Commissioners looked to those elders instead of where the money is, the county would actually be in better shape than it is. We most certainly wouldn’t be arguing over a historical monument. The statue would stay where it is. End of the argument.

Third.
ChathamMom – You know… I love your spunk! Elizabeth is just another one of those folks that wants a 5 seconds of fame and something for nothing.  And really, if you think about it, if her claim is that the statue has “assaulted” her, then that would make her a “co-conspirator” would it not? If she is knowingly and willingly allowing her son to come in contact with the statue that has a history of assaulting her, then one would assume that it would do the same to her son. 😉  But this also shows how today’s society continues to be one that refuses to take responsibility to its actions. The statue didn’t pop up overnight. She obviously has known about its location long before now, so if it bothers her or if she felt “threatened” by it, why not drive a different way to get to downtown Pittsboro?  (hmmm, because then she couldn’t complain about it?)

Fourth
Virginia – “disagree without becoming disagreeable”? Clearly you didn’t re-read your post before you sent it. You’re basically calling the GOP a bunch of crooks and double-agents, but then saying you hope that’s ok. I guess you don’t remember when they tried to teach us in elementary school about bullies: when someone starts a fight, don’t give in and fight back. I mean look at all of the “solutions” that we’ve proposed to each other here in this forum. It just keeps going back and forth and back again. Maybe the GOP doesn’t want to get caught up in that. We have no way of knowing.

Finally, I heard an educated African American woman speaking on campus last week. Although she was talking about the Silent Sam statue, her message still applies here. She was asked whether or not she thought the statue [Silent Sam] should have been removed and she responded, “No, not at all. That statue can’t hurt me. I walked by it every day and it never did a thing to me. I could look at it or ignore it, most of the time I didn’t even know it was there. But it never did anything to me.”

Now there are students on campus talking about removing faces from Mt. Rushmore! So you see, this is just the beginning. Where will it end? This isn’t just about a statue or what it may or may not stand for. It’s about how long we will lay down and let changes be forced upon us. First God is removed from schools, then they smudge our history books to make it a little more “PG”, now they’re going after historical statues…

All of these confederate statues represent people that fought and died fighting for our country. They fought and died simply so we could have the choice to succeed from Northern tariffs, homestead laws and excise taxes. Simply, they fought and died for our COUNTRY.

The choice to succeed still exists today. So by all means, if you don’t like the statue, either go around it, don’t look at it… or succeed from Chatham County.

The choice is yours.

Danie Cockrum