UNC-Chapel Hill
Department of Communication
Statement on “Silent Sam”
Approved by the Executive Committee 11/1/2017
The Department of Communication at UNC-Chapel Hill joins students and faculty from disciplines across campus in calling for the removal of the confederate monument (Silent Sam). We understand ‘Silent Sam’ to be a symbol of the history and legacies of racial slavery, anti-black racism, and white supremacy that persist in the state of North Carolina, the university, and our country. The presence of a confederate monument on our campus is contrary to the values, expectations, and practices that we have worked hard to implement to dismantle the vestiges of that history. If we are to be true to the people of this state, as an educational system “dedicated to the service of North Carolina and its people” then we have a moral obligation to remove this symbol of violent oppression from our midst, and continue the work of dismantling systemic racism.