By: Salena Braye-Bulls (’23), Editor-in-Chief
Salena: Can you start by telling me a little bit about yourself?
Julia: My name is Julia Clark. I’m a senior at UNC Chapel Hill double majoring in political science and African and African American diaspora studies with a minor in social and economic justice. I’m the current 55th President of Black Student Movement and the chair of the James Cates Memorial Committee underneath the Carolina Union Board of Directors.
Salena: Thank you. I know you just alluded to it, but can you tell me a bit about the memorial and your role in its creation?
Julia: I want to say first and foremost that the effort to establish a permanent memorial for James Lewis Cates, Jr. on our campus is not something that began with me by any means. It’s been an effort that has been propelled by the Chapel Hill community, by the Cates family and by other student groups for over 50 years since his murder occurred on our campus. I can say that from my involvement with the Memorial Committee, I felt as though when I was a sophomore and the committee was founded, that there wasn’t enough discussion of who James Cates was on campus or anything to remember his story or honor his name. So, since his murder occurred right outside of the Carolina Union at a Carolina Union sponsored event, I, who was currently serving as the representative for Black Student Movement on the Board of Directors, made sure that this committee was founded for us to propel the efforts to create this memorial, hopefully before I graduated, which I’m glad has come to fruition as well.
Salena: You mentioned that it has been over 50 years since Mr. Cates was murdered. Can you speak about the challenges that the committee and folks have faced over the years while trying to establish the memorial? Basically, the question that I and so many others have is why did it take so long?
Julia: I can definitely answer that. I think that if I had one word to describe why it took so long, it would be erasure. That is quite literally what this process has really highlighted – that James Cates’ name, story, and even his family – which is deeply connected to the University – has been erased from the university’s history and from our campus. It is a story that this administration does not want to tell because the story of James Cates is one that emphasizes not only the very strained race relations on our campus but also the legacy of white supremacy and white supremacist groups that come on this campus and enact violence on Black students and Black community members.
A challenge that my committee ran into was bureaucracy. This committee was founded by me two years ago, and we immediately started talking with the Cates family.
We started talking with community members on what they had already done, what they would like to see, and how we could help on our side as students because I think students do not really recognize how much power we hold at this university. Ultimately, students have more power than I would say even faculty, because faculty struggle with wanting to keep their job or get tenured, and so they are not able to speak out on a lot of issues that they would like to. We, as students, are in a unique position where not only can we have access to spaces at this university that are not open to community members at times. The student voice is really powerful and impactful. As soon as we started drafting the proposal, we met with the Cates family, students, and other community members. We met with the naming committee. We met with the Chancellor’s office. We went through all the avenues that we were told that we had to go through.
The Cates family and I made it clear that the memorial should be placed in the area of significance where Mr. Cates was murdered.
And so, one of the first questions we received from the University’s facilities department was “oh is this moreso going to be a traffic obstruction?”
The fact that that was the main point of discussion when we were trying to memorialize a Black man that was murdered on our campus was indicative of this University’s priorities, I think. There were arguments about whether Mr. Cates deserved the honor on our campus in the first place. Many times, most people that have sites named after them, for example classrooms or buildings, are donors to the university or they are considered worthy or memorable enough for that honor for another reason.
So, there was discussion on whether Mr. Cates fits into either of those categories. One, his family has not donated a substantial amount of money to the University, for which I don’t blame them, but there were also discussions about whether he was memorable enough to have a space on campus.
I think that the University was really dragging its feet for about 50 years because it’s not a history that they would like to tell on our campus. UNC has framed itself as a liberal haven of the South and a liberal university that is for all and racially inclusive. So, of course the story of a Black man murdered 50 years ago on our campus by a white supremacist does not fit that narrative.
We saw that the University was moving with all deliberate speed to establish this memorial and without outside pressure – student pressure, donor pressure, community pressure – this would not have happened at this time.
Salena: Wow. Their questioning whether he was memorable enough as a Black man murdered on this campus, like you said, is expressive of the overall tone of relations between the administration and the Black student community. Do you see the establishment of this memorial as a step forward or simply something that should have been done 50 years ago? In other words, how much credit can we give UNC?
Julia: I think that’s a really good question. I want to start by saying that while James Cates’ story is deeply linked to Black students on our campus, he himself was not a student at UNC. He was actually a community member who had family members that were students at UNC. A part of the James Cates story is that at the time when Mr. Cates came onto campus, UNC’s student population was about 2% Black. This was in 1970. The Carolina Union held an all-night dance party with the purpose of encouraging integration on campus. So, not only did they invite Black students, but they also invited Black community members to have this party with white students as well. Mr. Cates had family members that worked for UNC and cousins who were students, so he attended with them. Once the altercation occurred, he was murdered quite literally in the pit and was left to bleed out for nearly an hour with no help from University officials despite pleas from the community around him.
I always like to make that distinction because though he was not a Black student at Carolina, his family, his story, and his memory are deeply connected with Black students and Black community members because all of us – whether we’re on campus or live outside of campus – are still fighting against a system that never wanted us here.
I will be quite honest, even though I am proud of this accomplishment, it should not have taken this much to get this memorial. We should not have had to fight for 50 years to have a fallen member of our community honored on the campus that left him to bleed out on the very bricks we walk on now. I would not necessarily say that we should give the University credit, but rather I think that we should continue to apply pressure because here we see that pressure works. Collective action works.
Disruption works. I don’t think necessarily we should be giving the University or the Board of Trustees a round of applause for the decision that they made. Instead, we should continue to not only ground ourselves in the Community we have here on campus but also ground ourselves in the community we have outside of the campus walls in Chapel Hill. We have not only the responsibility but also the inherent power to take collective action, too.
So, not necessarily saying, “Oh my gosh, thank you so much,” because I don’t think they should be applauded for doing the bare minimum, but now we need to continue to apply pressure to make sure that this memorial is exactly what the family needs, not what the University needs. And that the University makes sure to fund this memorial completely out of its pockets. There should not be any sort of community fundraising or asking of those hurt by this incident to pay for its memorial.
I think that we need to be extra vigilant now on how the University proceeds because oftentimes they will give us crumbs and expect us to be happy for it when we need the whole loaf.
Salena: I think you’re right and thank you for your clarification about James Cates’ relation to campus. That’s crucial. UNC’s campus is very distinct, right? There are all these trees and columns. There’s signature brickwork, etc. People visit and remark on its beauty and often leave with that impression alone. What do you think having this memorial will signal to visitors and perhaps most importantly, prospective students and faculty?
Julia: UNC has very tactfully framed itself as a liberal haven, but I would instead use the phrase a colonial paradise, because while it is very aesthetically pleasing, everything on this campus is soaked in the blood of Black people. Soaked in the tears of colonialism. Of displacement. Of gentrification. Of genocide.
As people embrace, admire and exalt the beauty that we have on this campus, I want this memorial to prompt them to dig a little deeper and wonder “how did this beauty get here?” Who did this campus have to displace to be here? Who has this campus historically excluded and what does violence look like on a college campus?
I think a lot of times it’s easier to talk about interpersonal violence on a college campus because it’s in your face. We all know that it’s happening, but racial violence or a history of racial violence is often hidden underneath the very bricks that our ancestors laid. So, I want this to be a wakeup call for some and a source of comfort for others where they will know that their family will have a permanent place to grieve and find peace. And that there will be a permanent memory of those who they lost.
Salena: Thinking about the personal significance of the memorial to the family, how is it personally significant to you and your time and journey at UNC?
Julia: My goal in any space that I enter is always to leave it better than I found it.
When I came to UNC, I was aware of the unique challenges that this university has regarding race relations and white supremacy. I was aware of that, and I did not let it scare me because I knew that I could get here and make a difference for those that look like me so that future students who look like me or have shared experiences do not have to battle this system on their own. So that they know that there is a framework and that there is a door already open for them. This memorial affirms not only my own power in organizing and advocating in spaces that were not meant for me but also my ability to get a seat at the table and flip the table.
This is also a reconnection between the Black students at UNC and the Black community. For far too long, we have been separated from each other, not by accident, but intentionally because we know that when oppressed people are able to come together and collectively demand something – not just ask nicely or say please with the cherry on top – but when we demand something collectively, both through students and community, it is far more effective than fragmented efforts across different communities in different parts of this town. This shows me my own personal impact, but also is a testament to the impact of just demanding and not asking nicely anymore. I think politeness is very overrated. I came into this fight always being very blunt, not necessarily looking for politeness anymore, always asserting that this should have been done 50 years ago and that I should not have to be in this room at all.
I should not have to be arguing why this matters. I just really am proud of the effort that we’ve all made in terms of this fight, but I don’t want this to be the end. Instead, I want this to be a doorway and a gateway to what student protest, direct action and disruption look like on a campus founded in discrimination.
Salena: Yes. I think trying to bridge the intentional divide between the Black students and the Greater Chapel Hill – even extending to Carrboro – Black community is important, and as the 55th president of BSM, that is something important to have your finger on the pulse of. In some ways, this memorial could be seen as being just as much about the past as it is about the future. With that, what do you think that the establishment of the memorial bodes for the future of Black students at Carolina?
Julia: Thank you. I think is easy for a university to say that Black Lives Matter, we see it on our sports team shirts. We see it on the projector. Our professors will say it, but it is a different thing to make Black students and people feel like they matter. Like their stories are important. Like they deserve to be heard. I feel like this memorial is not only once again an emphasis that our lives and our stories, even outside of trauma and pain, do matter and should be honored. It also shows that Black stories are worth telling. To some of us that may sound like common sense, but this University has never really recognized that Black stories are worth telling. That Black people are worth honoring. That Black community members are memorable. That they are honorable. That they do deserve a space on this campus – a campus that they built themselves. I don’t want to make many assertive claims about the future because that’s always changing, but I at least hope that we continue to use our generational knowledge to tell Black stories in their entirety and to not let anyone tell it for us. No one can describe ourselves like we can, no one can defend ourselves like we can, and no one can honor ourselves like we can.
I think it’s important that we lean into all the generational knowledge, especially as college students that are oftentimes only here for a couple of years before moving somewhere else or entering another phase in our lives. Still, it’s important in any space you enter, no matter for how long, that you know the people that are already there, that you know the knowledge that is already there and that you honor those that have come before you. The memorial is a really beautiful thing for the future, for generational knowledge, and for making sure that Black stories, lives and people continue to matter on this campus.
Salena: Absolutely. Is there anything else that you’d like folks to know or keep in mind?
Julia: I would like for people, especially students that are underclassmen or new on this campus, to know that there is a community off this campus that is waiting for you to reach out. They are waiting to be able to support you and tell you the history that you have as a Black student here on this campus. Black history and activism at UNC are far larger than just student activism and student history. The community has always been very involved and has always been a driving factor for change. I would just recommend to any Black student entering this space to find an outlet to get to know the community. That can be working at the Boys and Girls Club like I do. That can be the Marian Cheek Jackson Center. It can be a church. It can be whatever you want but reach out to the community that is waiting for you because I promise you that they are here to support you and you are not alone.
Salena: Julia Clark, thank you so much for your time and all the incredible work that you’ve done.
