LAUNC-CH statement on the Silent Sam settlements

Statement from the board of the Library Association at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill* (LAUNC-CH)

Please note: This is not a statement from the University Libraries. LAUNC-CH is an organization independent of the University Libraries.

The board of the Library Association at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill (LAUNC-CH) condemns the recent $2.5 million and $74,999 settlements the UNC Board of Governors made with the Sons of Confederate Veterans.

Other departments and individuals have expressed their condemnation of the settlement and have made important public declarations about the harm of the Confederate monument and the effects of the settlement on members of our campus and the community. We would like to add our perspective as library workers.

The LAUNC-CH organization has roots in advocacy and activism and it supports the professional welfare of library workers. Library workers strive to cultivate a welcoming and anti-racist environment on campus. They help students, faculty, staff and the community find factual information and do not support the rewriting of history to support white supremacy. These settlements are antithetical to the work of LAUNC-CH and the library workers it supports.

The University’s mission closes with “the University has charted a bold course of leading change to improve society and to help solve the world’s greatest problems.” The LAUNC-CH board takes this mission seriously and opposes providing settlements totaling more than $2.5 million to fund one of the world’s greatest problems – white supremacy.