Governor Proclaims Anti-Lynching Awareness Month 2024

ANTI-LYNCHING AWARENESS MONTH

2024

BY THE GOVERNOR OF THE STATE OF NORTH CAROLINA

A PROCLAMATION

WHEREAS, North Carolina’s history is characterized by a complex past, and over the course of that history, has sometimes been a witness to cruel acts of violence against the people who call this state home; it is important that the families of those victims know that the State of North Carolina recognizes these atrocities and their impact on communities across our state; and

WHEREAS, the Community Remembrance Project of Warren County NAACP partners with local coalitions and the Equal Justice Initiative to memorialize documented victims of racial violence throughout history and foster meaningful dialogue about race and justice today; and

WHEREAS, Plummer Bullock and Alfred Williams were lynched on January 24, 1921, and are among at least four people who were documented as lynched victims in Warren County, with more under investigation; and

WHEREAS, after the lynchings, units of North Carolina’s Home Guard were ordered out to Warren County by then Governor Morrison to ensure Black residents didn’t riot the next day, but none of the white perpetrators responsible for the lynchings were arrested; and

WHEREAS, additional lynchings were carried out in Warren and other counties around North Carolina by vigilantes and local, county, and state authorities; no charges or accountability of these lynchings have since been acknowledged; and

WHEREAS, by advancing policies and practices that expand human and civil rights, we can eliminate discrimination and further the well-being, education, and economic security of Black people and all persons of color; and

WHEREAS, during this month and moving forward, the State of North Carolina encourages continued and comprehensive research on all lynchings that have occurred within the state, and acknowledges the criminal acts committed by the local, county, and state officials of the time;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, ROY COOPER, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim May, 2024, as “ANTI-LYNCHING AWARENESS MONTH” in North Carolina, and commend its observance to all citizens.

________________________________________

Roy Cooper

Governor

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this thirteenth day of May in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-four and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and forty-eighth.