The NC Capitol grounds needs more monuments

If you’ve been to Downtown Raleigh lately you might have noticed a yellow traffic sign standing in front of the State Capitol, and like me you might have wondered what it’s doing there.

Its purpose is to keep motorists from driving up onto the lawn, which apparently has happened a few times in recent months. Why? It’s because the space looks very different now, especially at night.

For over a century the west side of North Carolina’s Capitol Square was filled by a 75-foot-tall Confederate Monument. It was big and prominent and over time became out of place.

The monument was ordered removed by former Gov. Roy Cooper following the murder of George Floyd, and that decision was the right one for our state. The Confederacy belongs in a museum.

But now the space is empty and that signifies something greater than a traffic hazard: we need new monuments. There are 11 of them now on our State Capital grounds (following the removal of three in 2020). The last to be built was the North Carolina Veterans Monument, which was dedicated in 1990. That was 35 years ago. That means we’re due for something new.

And something that we can feel a sense of connection to today.

The presidents we honor at the State Capitol — Andrew Jackson, James K. Polk, and Andrew Johnson — ultimately made their careers in Tennessee, and the governors — Charles Aycock and Zebulon Vance — are no longer in fashion in either political party. It’s good that we’re contextualizing that history now. But we should also be building.

There’s more to North Carolina’s story than the politics of the post-war South. And we should act like it. We should be thinking about who to honor next at the State Capitol and on 100 courthouse squares.

Think of the men and women who made North Carolina great. Think of the writers, the athletes, and the entrepreneurs. Think of Michael Jordan, Maya Angelou, Dale Earnhardt, Billy Graham, and Ric Flair.

If North Carolina is known for anything it’s barbecue and college basketball. Now imagine a statue of Dean Smith, Coach K, and Jimmy V at the Capitol. Now that would bring tourists.

Or what about Andy Griffith, Doc Watson, John Coltrane, and Nina Simone? Or the Greensboro Four? What about the Wright Brothers, the Halifax Resolves, or the Overmountain Men? We are after all “First in Flight” and “First in Freedom,” and we can do more to celebrate that.

Those are just a few ideas. And we all probably have some.

If we’re looking for a political figure we could honor Jim Holshouser, Jim Martin, Terry Sanford, and Jim Hunt together. Or what about David Gergen, who served presidents of both parties?

And there is plenty in North Carolina’s story that still feels left out. For instance, Abraham Galloway and John Adams Hyman, two black leaders in North Carolina during Reconstruction.

Lately the State Capitol Foundation has been working to tell the story of enslaved people who helped build the Capitol. The new North Carolina Freedom Park nearby honors the “unyielding spirit of the African American struggle for freedom.” And we need more of those examples.

Every North Carolinian should feel a sense of pride when they visit our State Capitol.

One of my earliest memories was visiting those grounds with my parents. That trip and others to Fort Fisher, Old Salem, and the USS North Carolina sparked a love of history and civics.

That interest stayed with me, and we have an opportunity to do that now for others.

We’re approaching the 250^th anniversary of our country, but patriotism and trust in institutions are at historic lows. We need ways to revive our civic spirit and respect for our ideals.

If done right, the selection and construction of new monuments could be uplifting and unifying.

You might think, why now? Why think about statues when there are bigger issues to address?

But a moment like this is the perfect time to learn from those who came before.

It was during the Civil War that the construction of the Capitol dome took place in Washington, DC. It was a symbol that the work of democracy would continue and that it would endure.

That should be an inspiration to us now.

We should build new monuments to show that we still have something to say.

We should honor the past, make sense of the present, and leave something for the future by building again on our shared public squares. And we do have space available.

“The NC Capitol grounds needs more monuments” was originally published on www.carolinajournal.com.