Past racial con

A black man was killed in the Pit in 1970, and only one undergraduate in a room of more than 100 people Monday night had heard about the murder.

"It's a shocking and sad murder right in the heart of campus," said David Brannigan, a groundskeeper and member of UE Local 150, the state's union for public service workers.

A panel discussion in Murphey Hall uncovered some of UNC's forgotten past - including the murder of James Lewis Cates on Nov. 21, 1970, during a brawl between several black men and white members of a Durham motorcycle gang.

The event, titled "Blood Done Sign Our Names: The Lessons of Censored History For Our Struggles Today," raised questions about how UNC's history affects students and workers today.

"This is the kind of history we want to bring back," said Donelle Boose, a senior at UNC and member of the Campaign for Historical Accuracy and Truth.

"It's a shame that (this murder) happened in Chapel Hill," said Matt Robinson, a local historian and writer who has researched Cates's murder for the past four years.

The 1970s was a decade of severe social disruption and racial tension that shook the country to its core, said Tim Tyson, author of this year's summer reading selection, "Blood Done Sign My Name."

And UNC was not immune to these struggles, members of the discussion said.

Barbara Prear, a former UNC housekeeper and leader of UE Local 150, said service workers at UNC still are fighting for a living wage - a fight that started decades ago.

Lenoir Dining Hall was closed in 1969 when workers went on strike demanding better working conditions and a pay raise.

"Collective bargaining is the only way that we will ever be able to sustain and live on this campus," Prear said.

The discussion was sponsored by the Campaign for Historical Accuracy and Truth, UE Local 150, local chapters of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Student Action with Workers, Campus Y and Women's International League for Peace and Freedom.

A petition for collective bargaining rights for service workers circulated during the panel discussion and was signed by dozens of attendees.

"When students and workers get together, the administration is completely outdone," Tyson said. "Sometimes students are tempted to think we live in a different world. A student is just a university worker a few years later."

Tyson said students can't ignore the past in their efforts to build a better future.

"We're going to try to do a little bit better today than we did yesterday," he said. "A lot of what happens to us is a function of the past."

 

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.