The Confederate statue in front of the Gaston County courthouse can stay — if county commissioners choose to keep it there — a superior court judge found Friday.
The statue of a Confederate soldier perched on a 30-foot pillar includes the words “heroes” and “noble service.” It was put up in 1912 in front of the old county courthouse in downtown Gastonia. When a new courthouse was built a few blocks away in 1998, the monument was relocated there.
Gaston County commissioners tried to remove it in 2020 by giving it to the Sons of Confederate Veterans. But the group backed out worrying that doing so would violate state law. Commissioners then voted to keep the statue where it is.
The NAACP sued, arguing the monument’s position in front of the courthouse violates rights protected by North Carolina’s constitution. Superior Court Judge Robert Ervin found that it does not, but did warn keeping it there sends a message that the NAACP interprets as “In White Supremacy We Trust.”
He laid out options county commissioners could use to remove or alter the statue without violating the state’s 2015 law forbidding the removal of "objects of remembrance."
The county could give the monument to the NAACP, and the group could remove it. The county could also alter the statue to reassess whether the Confederate soldiers were “heroes” and their service “noble.”
The ruling essentially kicks the matter back to the county commission. A county spokesman said any comment on the ruling would come from county commissioners.
You can read the judge's order below.
