It is time that the Confederate monument downtown known as “Fame” be moved. It has become a lightning rod for racial discord and violence in our community. Gunshots fired downtown, violence on the steps of St John’s and police in riot gear within a stone’s throw of St. Luke’s. This is not Salisbury; we are better than that. No one has died yet, but the next time someone could be killed. It is time.

I have argued in the past for re-plaquing it to memorialize the dead of all wars and to erect an informational sign on the sidewalk, putting it in context and telling the story of the times it was erected in 1908. It is past that time. It is time to move it as a hazard to public safety and an affront to our African American citizens. 

I have reached out to leaders of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, as have others, and to date have not received a response. It is time that we take decisive action. 

The statue is a beautiful work of art; its message is one of hate and rebellion. I and others do not want it destroyed or damaged. Someone suggested moving it to the Lutheran Cemetery on North Lee Street, where there is already a group of gravestones honoring Confederate soldiers who died in Salisbury. It is a perfect place to put it. There, it could be interpreted and used as a teaching tool. It would be out of the middle of the street, out of downtown in a quiet place, a safe place. It is time. 

— Edward Norvell

Salisbury