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North Mecklenburg Leaders Call For Removing Cornelius Confederate Statue

Community and church leaders are renewing calls for the removal of a Confederate monument in Cornelius erected by a private group 110 years ago. 

The statue of a Confederate soldier was dedicated in 1910 in front of Mount Zion United Methodist Church on South Main Street. In a demonstration at the site in July, protesters demanded its removal, and Mount Zion's leaders have also asked for it to be relocated. 

Last week, about 180 north Mecklenburg leaders and other residents published an open letter to the private association that controls the statue. It says the monument  "champions the brutal enslavement of human beings with the accompanying rape, murder, denial of rights and dehumanization" of Black people. It asks the private group "to relocate the monument as soon as possible."

The letter is signed by local pastors, state lawmakers, town board members from Davidson and Cornelius, the president of Davidson College, business owners and other residents.

News site Cornelius Today reports that so far, the association has not responded.

Read the letter

"An Open Letter to the Mt. Zion Monumental Association," with list of community leaders who signed it. (PDF)

082820_confederate_monument... by WFAE

David Boraks previously covered climate change and the environment for WFAE. See more at www.wfae.org/climate-news. He also has covered housing and homelessness, energy and the environment, transportation and business.