Confederate statue Silent Sam was put up in 1913 – almost 50 years after the Civil War.

We made a video about the massive protest last year that was met with overwhelming force by the police. This year they had clearly been ordered to stand down and simply try to make sure no one got hurt while also trying to save face with the larger university system that wanted it up. Last year there were bollards and zip ties. This year there was waiting. Last year the University spent $400,000 dollars to protect the statue. It was time for it to come down a long time ago. Maya Little is the speaker, and she is going to trial in October for defacing the statue earlier this year.

Below are parts of the original dedication speech by Julian Carr.

“One hundred yards from where we stand, less than ninety days perhaps after my return from Appomattox, I horse-whipped a negro wench until her skirts hung in shreds, because upon the streets of this quiet village she had publicly insulted and maligned a Southern lady.

The present generation, I am persuaded, scarcely takes note of what the Confederate soldier meant to the welfare of the Anglo Saxon race during the four years immediately succeeding the war, when the facts are, that their courage and steadfastness saved the very life of the Anglo Saxon race in the South – When “the bottom rail was on top” all over the Southern states, and to-day, as a consequence the purest strain of the Anglo Saxon is to be found in the 13 Southern States – Praise God.”