Update on SCSJ's Edenton Confederate Monument Case

"In early 2025, Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed a lawsuit in Chowan County Superior Court on behalf of five Eastern North Carolina residents alleging the Edenton Town Council and Chowan County Board of Commissioners brokered an unlawful deal to relocate the Edenton Confederate monument to the grounds of the Chowan County Courthouse in downtown Edenton. We alleged this agreement violated the North Carolina Open Meetings Law and the placement of the Confederate Monument at the courthouse would violate the North Carolina Constitution."

"As detailed in SCSJ's filings, the monument was originally commissioned to be built and placed in Edenton during an era of widespread racial animosity against North Carolina's Black population. The monument was celebrated as a symbol of North Carolina's "White Supremacy" campaigns of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. And for decades, it stood prominently in Edenton's Downtown Historic District, where it had become the focus of weekly protests and vigils over the last few years."

"In late August 2025, Superior Court Judge Wayland Sermons dismissed the pro-Confederate groups' lawsuit, which allowed the Town of Edenton to move forward with its planned relocation. On August 30, 2025, over Labor Day Weekend, the Town of Edenton took down the Edenton Confederate Monument. Its removal marked a victory for the years of advocacy and protest that urged the Town Council to remove this racist symbol. The monument was taken down and placed into storage next to the Chowan County Detention Center."

Southern Coalition for Social Justice filed suit on behalf of five Eastern North Carolina residents alleging the Edenton Town Council and Chowan County Board of Commissioners brokered an unlawful deal to relocate the Edenton Confederate monument to the Chowan County Courthouse grounds. SCSJ alleged violations of the North Carolina Open Meetings Law and that courthouse placement would violate the North Carolina Constitution. The monument was commissioned during an era of widespread racial animosity and served as a symbol of White Supremacy campaigns. Weekly protests and vigils focused on the monument. After a pro-Confederate lawsuit was dismissed, the Town removed the monument on August 30, 2025 and placed it into storage, and SCSJ's case now proceeds.

Read at SCSJ