WILMINGTON — A historic foundation in North Carolina has made the surprising move of endorsing the removal of two Confederate monuments from the city of Wilmington.
The Wilmington Star News reported Tuesday that the board of the non-profit Historic Wilmington Foundation voted to support the removals.
The monuments in question are the Confederate Memorial Monument and the statue of Confederate politician George Davis.
“These artworks do not represent the values of the City of Wilmington or this organization,” foundation director Beth Rutledge said in a statement. "It is HWF’s hope that the monuments will be relocated to a location where they may be preserved, interpreted, contextualized, and used expressly for educational purposes, rather than to continue to serve as visual public reminders of racial injustice.”
The board’s decision follows in the wake of protests against police brutality and racism. Other southern cities in North Carolina and Virginia have been voting to remove confederate monuments in recent days.
