The Hidden History of Alamance’s Confederate Monument
As part of my series interviewing locals in rural North Carolina communities I was introduced to Tabatha. She lives on a farm with her family in Mebane, right on the outskirts of Alamance. Her family moved there in ’95 when their house was on a backroad. Now, Tabatha sees her area changing. The house across the street where she used to bring baked goods has lost its familiarity as neighbors passed. And the road has grown into a busy street with a new development being built right around the corner. Her town is growing, and experiencing the pains that come along with growth.
Tabatha’s life has changed too. Seeing the children in her life struggle pushed her to activism. She was strong enough to share with me that she lost her oldest son in 2014. In the years since, she’s been involved in helping her niece who has trisomy X, fetal alcohol syndrome, and ADHD. She said the growth she experienced through therapy caused her to become an advocate for mental health awareness — which has naturally expanded into political advocacy. In her community she knew many people who needed help, but couldn’t afford a therapist. She’s tried to fill that gap as a Christian counselor for her peers.
“You’re no longer a broken individual. You’re a hero and this is how you should carry yourself.”
Tabatha shared her breakthrough moment with me, which prompted me to ask “How does a hero carry themselves?” She brought up her advocacy of care, a theory that prompted her group to raise funds for prisoners on Mother’s and Father’s day. This year, the Alamance County Detention Center has been the focus of protests and advocacy after a massive COVID-19 outbreak inside. Tabatha was there protesting with Down Home NC when four of her friends were arrested for being in a public parking lot. But when I asked about the protests all of her focus was on the inmates at risk rather than her wrongfully apprehended friends.
“We’re here and we’re gonna get your story out there.”
Tabatha has also been focusing her efforts on getting the Alamance County Confederate Monument removed. She feels that the people who see the monument as a memorial to fallen soldiers don’t know the history behind it. “They didn’t know the issues in 1870 that led to the erection in 1914, they don’t know what the monument represents in Alamance County.” I had never seen this monument, and was curious to hear from her what the story behind it is.
“In 1870 Wyatt Outlaw was lynched across from the Courthouse. The monument was actually erected by the Daughters of the Confederacy.” Not, as one might expect, by the actual Confederates. Those Daughters who worked to raise the monument had ties to the KKK, and invited Jacob Long to speak at the dedication. The same Jacob Long who was arrested for ordering the lynching of Wyatt Outlaw and who founded Alamance County’s Klan chapter. He was never prosecuted.
“You start putting two and two together. You look at the monument that is erected, and you say this no longer looks like a symbol that commemorates fallen soldiers. This now becomes a symbol of hatred, of racism, of continual oppression. I think some of the combative things we’ve heard are, ‘well the statue has never said anything directly to you’, well of course not! But it’s the story behind it that speaks volumes. And for a long time in Alamance County nobody knew that story. It was something that was silenced. It’s not in history books. You actually have to dig to hear about this story. Why this person was dragged from his home, lynched by these individuals, and why this monument now exists.”
To me, it seemed clear that this is a statue idolizing terrorist violence — “when is it coming down?”
Alamance County has no plans to remove the monument. Tabatha told me how her group has taken it to the board of commissioners and protested in the streets. All of her actions have been ignored. The county says it’s a city issue. The city says it’s a Department of Transportation issue. The department says it’s a county issue. And round and round it goes.
“The commissioners that we have on board right now, they are of a different breed. They resemble the white supremacy of the olden days. Their values and their morals are of the 1840’s.”
Tabatha is understandably frustrated by her government’s inaction. She didn’t see a way for voters to influence the outcome, when she spoke to the commissioners they said the election won’t change anything. But three of the five commissioners are up for reelection in 2020. What better way to try and keep voters from coming out than by saying there’s nothing to be done? Two of the challengers, Dreama Caldwell and Kristen Powers, are even endorsed by Down Home members. That gives me faith they’ll be tireless voices for change in Alamance County, and friends to caring activists like Tabatha Davis.
If an elected official says an election won’t change anything, replace them to see if they’re right.
