VICTORY! Appeals Court upholds Gaston Co. decision to keep Confederate (NC)
The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Gaston County and against the local NAACP in a dispute over a Confederate monument near the county courthouse.
The North Carolina Court of Appeals has ruled in favor of Gaston County and against the local NAACP in a dispute over a Confederate monument near the county courthouse.
(Carolina Journal) - The North Carolina Court of Appeals has upheld Gaston County’s decision to maintain a Confederate monument near the county courthouse. The unanimous ruling Wednesday rejected arguments against the monument from plaintiffs led by the local NAACP.
The county first erected the monument in 1912 outside the historic county courthouse in downtown Gastonia. County officials moved the monument in 1998 to a location near the entrance to a newer courthouse building.
“Plaintiffs alleged that the monument at issue — ‘a multi-story structure guarding the main entrance to the Gaston County courthouse’ — ‘valorizes an era of slavery, secession, and white supremacy,’” Judge Donna Stroud wrote Wednesday.
In August 2020, as people across the country responded to George Floyd’s killing, Gaston County commissioners voted 6-1 to transfer the monument to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. The plan at the time was to move the monument to private property.
County commissioners reversed course three weeks later after the Sons of Confederate Veterans refused to take ownership of the monument.
The Gaston NAACP led a group of plaintiffs who filed suit three months later to force county officials to remove the monument. “Plaintiffs alleged that…
It's a beautiful thing to see Confederate victories. May we see many more.