ROCKY MOUNT, Va. – Leaders in two of our counties sent the issue of removing Confederate statues to the voters on Tuesday, and the voters have spoken.
But referendums in both Franklin and Halifax Counties, both overwhelmingly in favor of not relocating the statues, are not final.
Election Day charges voters with deciding the future, but this year it also had some deciding on the past.
In Franklin County, voters overwhelmingly said “no” to relocating a Confederate statue from the courthouse grounds. Bridgette Craighead is the founder of the Franklin County chapter of Black Lives Matter, and she said she wasn’t surprised by the result.
“I mean they outnumber us, we’re eight percent in this county so why would they think we would have any chance against the majority," Craighead said about the racial makeup.
About 21,000 people voted for the statue to stay, while about 9,000 voted to move it. Craighead said despite the protesting, they just didn’t have the numbers.
“I also know that a lot of the white people don’t know what’s going on or why we feel so strongly about the Confederate statue," Craighead said.
But this vote is not final. It will be up to the board of supervisors to make any final action.
Leland Mitchell is the chairman in Franklin County and said he was surprised more people didn’t vote to remove it. The board now has options in front of it; it could just do nothing, or it could bring the matter back up and vote on what to do.
“We’ve not discussed it since we’ve done the referendum. It will come back up in board action, as far as I know, but with no discussion, I can’t say for sure," Mitchell said.
The Washington Post wrote about the issue a few weeks ago, putting it on a national stage. Craighead said majorities don’t always support the right choice, and she’s hopeful the board will listen to the minority voice.
“If they have a heart, I would hope that they would vote to remove it," Craighead said. “We all have been to each meeting, to the BOS meetings and telling them how we feel, I really hope and pray that they take that into consideration and remove the statue.”
The Board of Supervisors in Halifax County are in the same boat as voters there opted for keeping the statue in place.
County administrator Scott Sampson noted state code dictates the referendum as advisory and non-binding. It’s unclear if and when the topic will arise there.
“We have not developed the agenda for our next regular meeting, and therefore at this time I do not know if the subject will be on the agenda,” Simpson said via email.