GASTONIA, N.C. (AP) - A North Carolina NAACP chapter is among three groups that filed a lawsuit Thursday against a board of commissioners over relocating a Confederate monument.
The lawsuit argues the monument’s prominent public location in front of the Gaston County Courthouse violates rights protected by North Carolina’s constitution, the Gaston Gazette reported. The lawsuit also says the monument “exalts the cause of slavery, secession and white supremacy.”
The Gaston County Commissioners are violating the rights of citizens in “backtracking” on an Aug. 3 vote to give the monument to a local Sons of Confederate Veterans group, according to the lawsuit. That plan was crafted after months of discussion and protests about the monument’s fate, and would have relocated the memorial from its prominent post in front of the courthouse.
The SCV later backed out of that plan over concerns that county commissioners were not following state law, and commissioners voted 4-3 on Aug. 25 to keep the monument where it has stood for decades.
Gaston County Attorney Jonathan Sink said Thursday the county does not comment on ongoing legal matters.
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