PITTSBORO, N.C. — A new billboard with “Black Lives Matter” will be installed by Tuesday afternoon in Raleigh, nearly identical to one in Pittsboro, which has been the center of controversy in the area.
The town made national news in July after the community raised money to rent a billboard along Highway 64, just feet away from a massive Confederate flag.
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“The billboards sent a very strong message, as strong of a message as that Confederate Flag,” Dawn Blagrove, the executive director of Emancipate NC told our news partner WTVD.
Kerwin Pittman, executive director of Recidivism Reduction Educational Program Services, said they intended to send a message to those who wanted to keep “hatred and fear and terror” in the town.
“This was a project that was fiscally-inspired by the people in Pittsboro, who were just tired and wanted to have a voice,” Blagrove said.
Sam White, who is a descendant of Confederate veterans, protested against the decision to have a Confederate monument removed from the county courthouse.
He said he allowed the Confederate flag to be placed on his property as a sign of protest against the county’s decision on the monument, but he doesn’t want the Black Lives Matter message near it and wants it removed.
White said LAMAR Advertising has leased land from him for the billboard for more than a decade. Now, he said when the lease expires, he wants the sign gone.
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White told WTVD the company offered to increase yearly rental payments to $1,000, but he said no.
“I told them if they don’t take it down Sept. 1, they’re going to hear my chainsaw running,” White said. “There’s some thing that are a lot more important than money. The new phrase, BLM, means burn, loot and murder not Black Lives Matter.”
Pittman argued White’s criticism of the movement and of the billboard shows how deep the issue runs in the community.
“This is an individual who is deeply seeded in racism,” Pittman said. “To remove currency from your pocket because of mentions of Black Lives Matter speaks to the testament of how he truly feels.”
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Even though the Black Lives Matter billboard is scheduled to come down by the end of the month, Blagrove said it is still a win for the people of Pittsboro.
“While we’re saddened to see the billboard come down, it is a win-win- for the people of Pittsboro who wanted to send a message that those Confederate flags do not represent all of them,” Blagrove said.
The new billboard in Raleigh is expected to installed Tuesday around the corner from the Wake Detention Center. Organizers said it is a symbol for the group’s call for criminal justice reform.