Letter: Gaston commissioners should act quickly on Confederate monument

I support moving the Confederate monument that sits directly in front of the entrance to the Gaston County Courthouse. It is well-known that these ubiquitous monuments were erected by the United Daughters of the Confederacy many years after the defeat of the Confederacy, during the most egregious era of Jim Crow and the oppression of African-American citizens.

We also know that the monuments were a critical component of the “Lost Cause” mythology, placed in front of courthouses or other prominent locations as a visible declaration of white supremacy.

This was intended as encouragement to white citizens and as a warning to African-American citizens. When these monuments were erected it really was all about race.

I’m sure that Confederate veterans fought bravely and made many sacrifices, but the Confederacy was an illegal rebellion against the United States which had as its central purpose the preservation of states’ rights to allow some people to own other people.

Confederate Vice-President Alexander Stephens stated, “…the negro is not equal to the white man; ...slavery subordination to the superior race is his natural and normal condition.”

We don’t want to erase that sad history, but why do we single out this ignoble cause for glorification in front of our alleged hall of justice?

Instead of a monument to those who fought against the United States of America, why not erect a monument to those who fought for it in World Wars I and II, Korea, Vietnam, Iraq and other conflicts?

This should in no way be a “close call.” I agree with the advisory commission and Commissioner Worley that the time has come to move this monument.

The Gaston County Board of Commissioners must, without delay, resolve to create a plan to move the Confederate monument.

Jeff Trepel is a resident of Gastonia.