Residents sue Tyrrell County over ‘Faithful Slaves’ monument at courthouse

COLUMBIA, N.C. (AP) — A federal lawsuit filed Tuesday seeks the removal of a Confederate monument marked as “in appreciation of our faithful slaves” from outside of a North Carolina county courthouse.

The Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County, a civic group focused on issues facing local Black residents, and several of its members filed the lawsuit against the county’s commissioners. The legal complaint argues that the monument constitutes racially discriminatory government speech in violation of the 14th Amendment’s equal protection clause.

Tyrrell County includes a few thousand residents in eastern North Carolina. The monument, which was erected on the courthouse grounds in 1902, features a Confederate soldier standing atop a pedestal, with one of the markings below mentioning “faithful slaves.” The lawsuit argues that the monument conveys a racist and offensive message that Black people who were enslaved in the county preferred slavery to freedom.

“The point of putting such a monument near the door of the Tyrrell County Courthouse was to remind Black people that the county’s institutions saw their rightful place as one of subservience and obedience, and to suggest to them that they could not and would not get justice in the courts,” the lawsuit argues.

The Associated Press contacted the Tyrrell County manager via email requesting a comment on the lawsuit.

North Carolina legislators enacted a law in 2015 that limits when an “object of remembrance” such as a military monument can be relocated. Still, the lawsuit says more than a dozen Confederate monuments have been taken down in North Carolina in the past five years, many due to votes by local officials.

Others were removed by force. In 2018, protesters tore down a Confederate statue known as “Silent Sam” at the University of North Carolina campus at Chapel Hill. Statues of soldiers from the North Carolina Confederate Monument on the old Capitol grounds in Raleigh came down in June 2020. Gov. Roy Cooper, citing public safety, directed that the remainder of the monument and two others on Capitol grounds be removed.

Confederate monuments in North Carolina, as elsewhere nationwide, were a frequent focal point for racial inequality protests in the late 2010s, and particularly in 2020 following the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer.

The Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County wrote that they have fought for the courthouse monument’s removal for years, from testifying at county commission meetings to advertising on billboards.

Below is a press release on the announcement of the lawsuit. Click here to see the lawsuit.

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COLUMBIA, N.C. — The Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County, a civic organization comprised of Black residents of Tyrrell County, NC, filed a federal lawsuit (see attachment) today against the Tyrrell County Board of Commissioners, challenging the Board’s maintenance of a monument “In Appreciation of Our Faithful Slaves” near the steps of the county’s courthouse. The monument, which was gifted to the county in 1902 by W.F. Beasley, a merchant from a local slaveholding family, is believed to be the only courthouse monument in the United States to textually affirm the institution of slavery.

In 2023, a federal court described the “image of the faithful slave” as “mytholog[y]” and part of a narrative that “denied the horrors of slavery” and “fueled white backlash against . . . the rights . . . granted to African-Americans.” Today’s lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina, cites research that indicates the monument at the Tyrrell courthouse was intended “to send an ominous message to every Black person with the misfortune of seeking justice in its halls.” The suit asserts that Tyrrell’s pro-slavery message, “which is communicated by, on behalf of, and at the local seat of government, makes a mockery of the U.S. Constitution’s commitment to equal justice under the law,” and violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment.

“The Supreme Court has said monuments at government buildings are a ‘means of expression’ and ‘government speech,’” said attorney Ian Mance, who represents the Plaintiffs on behalf of the Durham-based civil rights organization Emancipate NC. “In all the years of debate over the monument, the Commissioners have never offered a substantive defense of its message. The reason is obvious. It’s an offensive, ahistorical, and racist message. Our position is that the Fourteenth Amendment does not allow the county to maintain a monument expressing a racially discriminatory message.”

In addition to the Concerned Citizens, Plaintiffs in the suit include people who descend from persons enslaved in Tyrrell County. For years, these individuals have engaged in extensive efforts to persuade the Commissioners to relocate the monument. As a result, they contend, they have been subjected to acts of racial intimidation by supporters of the monument—threats that have been ignored by county officials, who have instead treated the Plaintiffs’ peaceful objections to the monument as a bigger threat.

“Litigation was our last resort,” explained Sherryreed Robinson, who serves as the Concerned Citizens’ Treasurer and traces her family lineage in Tyrrell to before the Emancipation Proclamation. “We have peacefully voiced our objections for years. This monument says our ancestors preferred slavery to freedom. That’s a false and hurtful message for the government to communicate.”

Robinson and her sister, Adriana Blakeman, one of two U.S. veterans in the Plaintiff class, have experienced acts of intimidation as a result of their advocacy. In one incident, a man displayed a firearm during the Concerned Citizens’ permitted demonstration, commandeering a podium the group had put in place for speeches against the monument. The event occurred in front of county law enforcement, who declined to intervene. In another incident, a man driving a truck bearing the Tyrrell County logo made repeated passes at Blakeman before attempting to hit her with his vehicle while she was out jogging.

“Tyrrell County is our home. We view our decision to bring this case as doing right by our community,” said Joyce Sykes Fitch, Secretary of the Concerned Citizens. “This is the only place in America where you can go to a courthouse and see a public expression in support of the institution of slavery. It’s past time for it to come down.”

“We are honored to represent the Concerned Citizens of Tyrrell County in this suit,” said attorney Jaelyn Miller of Emancipate NC, who represents the Plaintiffs with Mance. “For years, they have raised their objections to the Commissioners through a variety of means, only to be told that they should take their requests elsewhere. However, the Supreme Court of North Carolina has made clear that counties can own monuments independently of the State, and when they do, they have the authority to move them. Tyrrell County owns the Faithful Slaves monument, and it could resolve this case tomorrow by voting to move it away from the courthouse.”

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