The Story with Charu

What are the stories we are told and what are the stories we believe? In most newsrooms across the world there is a morning meeting where reporters discuss the most important stories of the day and which ones to put resources into covering. We live in a time where information comes at us fast. It’s hard to take a breath or know what to trust. Knowledge is power, and when you know better you do better. I want to explore the questions we need to be asking, the stories we need to hear and what exactly is the truth.

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The Story with Charu

Down with the Confederacy

September 16, 2021 • Charu Kumarhia/Justin Miller • Season 9 • Episode 1

On August 4, 1910 these words were said in connection to a statue erected to honor the Confederacy in Cornelius, North Carolina:

“… to love home and its purity, protect from taint the Saxon blood that courses in your veins.”

Complete Speech here:
http://archive.org/details/idealconfederate00burw/mode/2up?view=theater

Confederate statues were erected at a time when Civil War Veterans were dying and when American Blacks were asking to be included in the society they helped build.
The speech above glorifies the Confederate soldier - whom some white southerners believe fought for his state and homeland, and not so much slavery. Historical record indicts that slavery was very much the reason for the Civil War, because the work of the enslaved held up the entire economy of the United States at that time.
For many - Confederate monuments glofiy the cause of white supremacy and downplay the terror many African-Americans faced in the fight for a more equal society (and still do).

111 years after the statue was dedicated, journalist and wrtier Charu Kumarhia attended a demonstartion for its removal and met a young activist Justin Miller.

In this interview they both discuss the event and an interesting development from the night.

www.charukumarhia.com

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People on this episode

Charu Kumarhia

Host