100 signatures reached
To: WAYNE COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS
RENAME CHARLES B. AYCOCK
The Goldsboro/Wayne Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and the undersigned are demanding the name of the public high school of Charles B. Aycock, in Pikeville, North Carolina be removed from that location and the school be renamed. It is imperative that we move and work in conjunction with all the institutions of higher learning that have removed C. B. Aycock's name from their buildings.
Why is this important?
The history of the 50th Governor of North Carolina records Charles B. Aycock as a racist and a white supremacist. While in office he condoned and worst, promoted, the Wilmington coup d’état, used his power to endorse segregation, and championed against integration of schools which stood on the platform of separate and unequal. Aycock explained the Wilmington massacre was the model for preventing Blacks from voting throughout the southern states.
According to The News & Observer’s special selection article titled “The Ghosts of 1898” during a speech, Aycock is described as pounding on the podium advocating for the protection of white womanhood and white supremacy.
On July 29, 2020, UNC decided that Aycock and other men’s names would be removed after the university’s Commission on History, Race & A Way Forward and their Board of Trustees voted to make that official. The university’s position is shared with the NAACP that Aycock held a position of power and influence and we feel he betrayed Blacks of North Carolina by not rectifying the wrong after the massacre in Wilmington or advocating for equality for all the residents of the state he was sworn to serve. The time has come for the residents of Wayne County to recognize Aycock was revered in his time but today we are looking for leaders who represent everyone.