Should this fellow grace a Raleigh park?

Josephus Daniels

Old Josephus Daniels, editor and publisher of The News & Observer from 1894-1948, was a rabid racist. He helped lead the forces that restored white Democrats to power in North Carolina, and installed Jim Crow, after the post-Civil War period of Republican-led Reconstruction and integration. His statue now stands in front of the N&O in city-owned Nash Square. Should it?
At tonight’s City Council meeting, as I understand it, Indy contributor Peter Eichenberger will call for removal of the statue. If “the old toxic monster” must stay around at all, Peter wrote a few weeks back, it should be on the N&O’s property, not the city’s. (Update: Peter now says the statue should stay:

“As I suggested in my October 11 column in the Independent, a month before the N&O ran it series on Wilmington, one public act with meaning would be relocation of old Joe to N&O property where he would remain on public display with enhanced context. As to the expense, I have friends, stonemasons and riggers who could do the job in a week. I have reconsidered that demand. There are ways which could be much more positive and educational.

“Let it remain in situ with the addition of a dais describing and apologizing for his role in the horrors of November 10, 1898. In addition, add another statue to balance things. I suggest John Chavis, a slave who bought his way to freedom and dedicated his life to educating the children of Raleigh regardless of the color of their skin.”

Ah, well.)

Last week, Indy editor Richard Hart took up the cause, kind of. He asked, in an Upfront column, whether the statue should go, or be paired with a statue of Gov. Daniel Russell (who?). You can respond to his question by clicking on the link and adding your comment.

My response? I’m with Peter. (Well, with Peter before he changed his mind.) The N&O should reclaim its hero, and if it doesn’t, the city should do it for them. This being Raleigh, though, I’m not holding my breath.

This entry was posted from Bob Geary on Tuesday, December 5th, 2006 at 2:56 pm and is filed under City Hall, Around Raleigh. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.