Enfield Mayor Mondale Robinson is calling on North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper to take action and declare a state of emergency after several Halifax County residents received letters containing disturbing racial threats.
The threatening letters came weeks after a Confederate statue dedicated to Confederate soldiers and veterans of World War I 1928 was lawfully removed. Inscriptions were also added to the monument to honor veterans of World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War and the Persian Gulf War.
The Enfield Town Council voted 4-1 to remove the statue on Aug. 15.
Robinson called the letters which called on the “white people of Enfield” to do something after someone “stomped down a piece of their white heritage.” A racial slur was also included in the letters.
“As we stand firm on our constitutional rights to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness, we need our governor to lock arms with this community, ensuring that our solemn way of life isn’t interrupted by white supremacists,” Mayor Robinson said in a news conference.
“The ideas of this country’s constitution can not be counted as valid, as long as white supremacists are allowed—without consequence—to threaten the calm of everyday life for Black people. The removal of a monument that stood as a constant reminder of slave owners’ right to own people that look like me, has exposed this country’s and more directly this state’s unwillingness to stand with Black folk as we ourselves push back on the narrative that we must not ask for too much freedom too fast,” he continued.
According to the U.S. Census, Enfield, a predominantly Black town, is home to just over 1,800 people.
“If one believes that Black lives truly matter then said person has no opposition to our town’s simple request for peace, tranquility, and freedom from racial terror. And with that, I invite Gov Cooper to come stand on the side of Enfield and our fight against racial terror,” said Robinson.
