TAKE ACTION:
1. Call Durham County DA Roger Echols at 919-808-3010 to drop all charges against the Durham anti-racist activists for the events in Durham related to the toppling of the Confederate statue.
2. Call NC State Senate President Phil Berger at 919-733-5708 and urge the state legislature to repeal the 2015 law GS 100-2 that prohibits local governments from removing Confederate Statues and other vestigates of white supremacy
3. Tweet @DurhamCounty and @SenatorBerger for charges to be dropped and repeal of 2015 law
4. Text ‘Defend Durham’ to 64336 for updates and next steps
Show solidarity with the growing people’s movement that is challenging the racism that allows public monuments to white supremacist ideals and values in the form of Confederate statues to stand in our communities.
On August 14, Durham residents took down the supremacist Confederate soldier statue in front of the Durham Courthouse. This occurred just two days after Nazi’s and KKK rallied in a “Unite the Right” rally in Charlottesville, VA to defend Confederate statues and killed an anti-racist protester, Heather Heyer. The Durham action was another powerful expression of people’s anger and disgust with how the system uses its power to remind Black, Brown and oppressed people of their “place” and ongoing oppression and exploitation.
After Heather Heyer’s murder by white supremacists in Charlottesville in August, Conferderate flag sales quadrupled. In Durham, people took the Confederate monument down themselves – demonstrating that many feel they should take matters into their own hands when governments attempt to stop progressive social change.
In 2015, the Republican-dominated NC State Legislature passed a bill that took away authority from local city and county governments to remove Confederate statues from their property, GS § 100-2.1. This is the same state Legislature that the US Supreme Court ruled gerrymandered voting districts based on race with “laser-like precision”. The state Legislature also passed similar legislation – HB2 — that eliminated local governments’ power to protect trans-gendered people from hate crimes, or enact protections for workers from abusive employers, like raising the minimum wage and improving working conditions for contractors.
#ISupportRemoval #DoItLikeDurham #DroptheCharges against anyone charged with removing the Durham Confederate statue!
Upcoming Court Dates:
Nov 14 (9am court hearing, 10:30am press conference), Nov 16, and Dec 5 at the Durham County Courthouse 8:30-10 am!