For seven days, Henry Turnage circled the monument on the lawn of the Franklin County Courthouse. Walking in circles was a symbolic journey. “That’s a huge representation of what it’s like to be a black man seeking justice in America,” he said.
The monument at the courthouse commemorating Franklin County’s Confederate dead was erected in 1910. The statue was replaced in 2010 after it was struck by a vehicle. Franklin County is not unique in its display of a Confederate monument as several localities in the region contain their own memorials, including Roanoke, Roanoke County, Salem, Fincastle and Bedford.
According to Turnage, the proper place for Franklin County’s Confederate monument is not in front of a building where justice is supposed to be meted blindly. “That represents injustice,” he said. “That tells me before I even walk through the doors of the courthouse that I’m going to face injustice because you put a big sign up here that says it.”
Momentum is growing for the monument’s relocation from the courthouse grounds. Another Franklin County native, Lekeith Tolliver, posted an online petition that has garnered more than 5,000 signatures as of late June. The petition requests the statue not be destroyed, but be moved to the Jubal A. Early homeplace in northern Franklin County or donated to a museum or public cemetery.
In June, many Franklin County residents turned out for a meeting of the Franklin County Board of Supervisors to express their opinion concerning the statue. More than two dozen people spoke during periods of public comment, and the majority were in favor of the monument’s removal from the courthouse. The board listened to the public’s concerns but took no action during the meeting. One of the speakers was Tolliver. “I want to make it clear that this is not an attempt to create hostility within the community, but rather to create an overdue conversation,” Tolliver said. “Confederate symbolism does not echo the morals and values in which Americans are led by … as such Confederate symbolism should not stand front and center as representation of this town in 2020.”
Turnage and his wife, KarShanda, are Franklin County natives. KarShanda Turnage recently retired from the U.S. Air Force after 20 years of service. The Turnage family spent much of KarShanda’s career overseas, including five years in Germany. The couple noted there are no statues or monuments memorializing Hitler or Nazism in Germany. Pointing to an engraving of a Confederate flag on the monument, “those are swastikas to me,” Henry Turnage said.
“How would you feel if I was a Jew and I was in Germany and you had a statue of Hitler and a swastika outside of the courtroom?” he asked. “How would I walk into that courtroom and seek any kind of justice? I don’t understand how these people can walk past this statue and go in there and represent me and inflict justice upon anybody that looks like me.”
Turnage’s laps began in the morning. Some days he would not stop walking until after nightfall. During his rounds he documented on Facebook Live his views concerning the monument and racial injustice while giving a call for activism. When he would stop for breaks, the Turnage’s two children or other family members would begin their own rotations.
Syrenity Turnage, 14, said she felt good supporting her father in his efforts. If the statue is removed from the courthouse lawn, “I was part of something big,” she said. “Even though it’s not as big of a protest like others are, it’s still making a difference and making a change,” she said.
Sometimes passersby would walk a couple of laps with Henry Turnage to show their support, KarShanda said. At other times, people would drop off water or food or even phone chargers so that Henry could continue to broadcast his message live. But that support was not universal.
While derogatory names were not tossed about, KarShanda noted that detractors expressed opposition to her husband’s protest in other ways. Some would rev engines in their large vehicles, yelling ‘sit down’ ‘shut up,’ ‘MAGA, or waving Confederate flags. When those actions would occur, “You just give love back,” KarShanda said. In fact, it was love that brought Henry Turnage to the courthouse lawn.
The couple fears society will soon view their eight-year-old son, Xavier, who loves football, riding his bike, and playing Lego, differently. “I figure in four or five years, he’ll be considered a criminal,” Henry Turnage said. “Soon as he hits a certain age, he’s not a cute little kid anymore; he becomes demonized.” Henry Turnage referred to the deaths of George Floyd, who was killed after a Minneapolis police officer kneeled on his neck for nearly nine minutes and Trayvon Martin, a Florida teen killed after walking home from a convenience store to drive home his concern.
“I’m here to ask these people up in this courthouse what are the rules for engagement for my son? What do I tell my son to do if he is faced with danger from a white man? … Do I tell him to stand his ground and fight back? Do I tell him to run away? If he cannot run any more, do I tell him to lie on the ground and get choked out? What do I tell him to do? I’m tired of us having to lay down in handcuffs and get choked out before we are considered victims,” he said.
Tolliver said he planned to address the board of supervisors for a second time in July concerning the statue’s relocation. Referring to the Jubal A. Early homeplace, “the overall thing is to move it from the courthouse and move it to a proper place where people can consent to seeing it and it’s in a proper context,” Karshanda Turnage said
In June, Henry Turnage said he hoped a result of the board of supervisors meeting would be a change of heart. “Love brought me here,” he said. “I’m here because I love that boy, and I want him to have a better America. That’s it,” he said while pointing towards the statue. “And I don’t think that’s a representation of a better America.” ′
Tags: Politics, Race
Share On Facebook
Tweet It
