HBO’s popular late-night comedy show, “Last Week Tonight with John Oliver,” aired as usual this Sunday, but this week had a twist that hit a little closer to home.
Graham's Common Soldier Confederate statue, located outside of the Historic Alamance County Courthouse, less than 15 minutes from Elon University was mentioned during Oliver’s show.
During the show, which was largely about the confederate statue debate, Oliver aired a video of an Alamance County man defending the statue in a public town meeting as well a photo of the Confederate statue.
Later in the video Oliver refers to the speech given by a leader of Graham’s Ku Klux Klan chapter at the statues dedication on May 19, 1914.
In the speech, the KKK member called the occasion an opportunity, "To recall the achievements of the great and good of our own race and blood.”
Oliver went on to berate Confederate statues located in South Carolina, Texas, Florida, Georgia, Tennessee and Virginia.
But doing nothing is not acceptable, Oliver said, mentioning that many of the Confederate monuments were erected after the end of the Civil War and send, "A pretty hostile message to African-Americans."
To end the debate, Oliver suggested putting all Confederate statues in a more "appropriate" location.
"If we really want to learn from honor and our history, the first step might be to put most of these statues somewhere more appropriate surrounded by ample historical context," Oliver said. "Like in a museum, where people go to proactively learn about history."