HALIFAX COUNTY, N.C. — In recent weeks, the small town of Enfield has gotten a lot of attention after the mayor personally took down a Confederate monument that the town voted to remove. Racist letters were reportedly found on people’s driveways, and the police chief put in his two weeks’ notice.
What You Need To Know
Enfield town officials voted to remove a Confederate monument and the mayor personally helped tear it down
Racist letters were reportedly found on people’s driveways throughout the town
Enfield’s police chief and two other officers resigned but have not publicly commented about why
Tony Silver was raised in Halifax County and has lived in Enfield since 1992.
“It’s a town where everybody knows everybody, and it’s just always been a good place. It’s not a complicated place,” Silver said.
Enfield is a small town of about 2,400 with railroad tracks that run through downtown.
“I don’t like calling colors, but I’m going to call it for the sake of this,” Silver said. “Certain parts of the town you have this is the Black side and this is the white side of town and that railroad track separates and divides it.”
Silver’s concrete business has been based in Enfield for the last 23 years, and after this long in the business, he knows things that start with a strong foundation can withstand the test of time.
“You can ride by 20 years from now with your grandchildren and say, ‘Yeah, we did that,’” Silver said. “And if it’s done, and it’s done right, it will last a lifetime.”
Lately, the town’s foundation has been cracking. On August 21, Mayor Mondale Robinson took down a Confederate monument that town officials voted to remove. The monument was originally built to honor soldiers of the Confederacy and later expanded to include veterans of foreign wars.
Robinson has been criticized for damaging the monument, as well as accused of not following proper procedure to remove it, but the mayor does not apologize for knocking it down.
Silver believes it was time for the monument to go.
“If we could get past the material stuff that keeps the separation, I think we will get there after a while. Memories are best kept in the heart,” Silver said.
Additionally, Silver says he and other people in Enfield recently found racist letters and flyers on their driveways. The papers include racial slurs and mentions of the Ku Klux Klan.
“You have a handful of people out here that are going to keep causing destruction, but we can’t allow it. Not in Enfield,” Silver said.
Enfield Police Chief James Ayers was only in that position since March 1, but he recently submitted his two weeks’ notice. On Wednesday, Spectrum News 1 asked Ayers for comment on the situation, but he declined. Robinson says two other officers also resigned at the same time.
Silver says he never expected the chief to leave at a time like this.
“I kind of wish that he would’ve stuck around with the knowledge that he had, but at the same time if he’s not able to handle these situations it’s probably the best thing for him,” Silver said. “These are the times that you think the seasoned people would stick around and help the town out.”
Silver feels invested in Enfield and believes these recent shakeups may actually be beneficial in the long run.
“I’m glad that all this is happening because there’s some change that’s about to take place, and I’m praying it’s moving forward in the right direction for unity,” Silver said. “Enfield has a lot of potential. If you’re at the bottom, just like anything else, you’ve got but one way to go and that’s up. The right people are in place right now to help this town move forward.
“There’s a lot of stuff that’s been done with the infrastructure through previous administrations, which was well-needed, but there’s no need to beautify nothing just like you bought it. You can go into a shop and put on a nice clean customized suit, but if your heart ain’t right, you know, but if you clean up that inside the rest will be all right."
On Monday, Robinson called on Gov. Roy Cooper to declare a state of emergency and asked him to send additional law enforcement help. Meanwhile, the State Bureau of Investigation is looking into the removal of the Confederate monument to determine if any laws were broken in the process of it being taken down.
On Tuesday, Spectrum News 1 received the following statement from Robinson: “I have no energy to deal with people who are willing to walk away from their duty to protect and serve Black folk in defense of white supremacy, regardless of their race or creed … Enfield is now free of police officers that don’t value what our town does: equity. And this gives our little town the opportunity to rethink what we can do with those resources.”