Guest column: Relative of Saunders says he needed to go

The painting of “Uncle Bill” was part of my childhood. The Confederate sword of Col. William Saunders is on the wall in my living room.

Saunders Hall at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has carried our family name since 1922 to honor his contributions to UNC. Saunders compiled the definitive colonial document collection and history of early North Carolina. His 10-volume “Colonial and State Records of North Carolina” is still in print.

Saunders, my great-great-uncle, was a lawyer, as am I. In 1876, he was one of the founders of The (Raleigh) News & Observer, along with Peter Hale. He remained associated with the paper until he became the secretary of state and was reelected until he died in 1891.

He also was leader of the N.C. Ku Klux Klan. He was questioned by the Congressional Committee of 1871. He responded to each question by asserting his Fifth Amendment right and stating: “I decline to answer.”

That phrase is inscribed on his tombstone at Calvary Churchyard in Tarboro, N.C., along with the statement: “For 20 years he exerted more power in North Carolina than any other man.”

Saunders led the KKK in North Carolina in successfully opposing Reconstruction and in denying U.S. Constitutional rights to black citizens in violation of federal law. Saunders was one of the architects of 100 years of injustice and segregation in the South.

The debate over the name of Saunders Hall at UNC has persisted for decades. It is time to change the name of the building. I support the students who have pressed this debate, and I commend the trustees of the University for taking action.

One of the reasons the board named the building after Saunders in 1920 was his leadership in the KKK. So it’s important to recognize the board, as well as the vast majority of lawyers and judges at that time, supported the defeat of Reconstruction and the denial of rights to black citizens.

These are the people who should have supported justice for all.

Saunders did represent the legal and political system in the South, but taking his name off the building should not lead anyone to believe the vestiges of the system he helped design do not persist today.

Current political measures to restrict minority voting rights are just one example of that continuing struggle for social justice.

There is still much work to be done to achieve true social justice. Removing my great-great-uncle’s name from this building is a small step in the right direction.