‘They
Carry a
Heav y
Burden’
The movement to get
William Saunders’ name off
a classroom building has gained
momentum toward an
expected decision in May.
by David E. Brown ’ 75
For a trustees meeting, it was an afternoon filled with startling words. Alston Gardner ’ 77, chair of the University Affairs Committee, assuring a group
formed around the concerns of students
of color that, indeed, they belong here (the
group had asked); then Gardner reciting the
breathtaking words of industrialist Julian
Carr (class of 1866) at the dedication of the
Confederate soldier statue in 1913, “citing
his pride in having ‘horsewhipped a Negro
wench until her skirts hung in shreds.’ ”
Student members of the Real Silent
Sam Coalition recited, too — racist
comments, written by their Carolina
classmates on the social media app
Yik Yak, and the names of those with
white supremacy in their backgrounds
for whom UNC buildings are named.
“It’s quite obvious to most people
studying or working within the UNC
System that the history of North Carolina
reflects the history of the United States.
It is good, it is bad and, at times, has been
very, very ugly,” said Deborah Stroman ’ 86
(MA), a member of the business school
faculty and president of the Carolina
Black Caucus. “And sadly, many can live
most of their lives happily in America,
never really learning the real history of
our great country.”
