We the residents of Gaston County, North Carolina call on the Gaston County Commissioners to honor the spirit of the resolution that was passed in a special meeting on August 3, 2020, to remove and relocate the Confederate monument that currently resides in a cage in front of the county courthouse which was recommended by the board appointed Council of Understanding which voted for the removal and relocation of the statute. 

Two resolutions were voted on and the second resolution was to convey ownership of the county-owned monument to the North Carolina Sons of Confederate Veterans who reached out to Chairman Tracy Philbeck to take ownership of the statue if the board voted to remove and relocate it which it did in a 5-2 vote and then the board voted 6-1 to convey ownership to the organization. 

The NCSCV has now refused to take ownership and the two commissioners that voted against removal and relocation of the confederate statue have put forth a new resolution to void the now mute resolution conveying ownership but added language to keep the statute in place and not remove it from the courthouse. Commissioners Chad Brown and Jack Brown are using the bad faith of the NCSCV to keep the monument in its current location by adding their bad faith resolution to the August 25, 2020 agenda.

This is unacceptable and we urge commissioners to vote no on the new resolution to void the conveyance because of the language added to void the previous resolution to remove and relocate the statute. The statue can simply be removed and relocated to storage until another party, preferably one of the two museums in Gaston County where it can be displayed with a copy of the full dedication speech to give it the proper context of the attitudes and white supremacist beliefs of those in attendance at the 1912 dedication who made no objections to the racist language of the keynote speaker. There is no pressing reason to void a resolution on a contract that has not been signed when the other party (NCSVC) refuses to sign in an act of bad faith.

The new resolution with language to leave the statue in place is also arguably in bad faith and will undermine the lawful and orderly process to obtain the majority vote to remove the statue from the courthouse grounds. 

Each and every commissioner took an oath to uphold and defend the US. Constitution and not to honor those who sought to destroy it whether they were drafted or volunteered for the Confederate Army and five of the commissioner's made the right decision to vote to remove a monument to those men from the county courthouse grounds. Do not allow the new resolution to undermine all the good faith work put in by residents of Gaston County and undermine their faith in the county government.

Vote NO on Commissioner's Chad and Jack Brown's resolution that leaves the confederate statue standing on courthouse grounds and we urge commissioners to start the process of removing it and placing it in storage until a new owner can be gifted the statue, preferably one of the two county museums.