Group Calls on North Carolina to Ditch 'Tar Heels'

Ever wonder how the University of North Carolina got its "Tar Heels" nickname?

One group claiming that the name's origins are tied to the Confederacy and white supremacy wants to see "Tar Heels" retired.

As reported by The News & Observer of Raleigh, a dozen protesters calling themselves the Union Soldiers Campaign stood outside the administrative building at UNC-Chapel Hill on Tuesday afternoon arguing against the name, which they say refers to Confederate soldiers who stood their ground against "northern aggression" as if they had tar on their heels. In doing so, those Confederates fought against the values and ideals of the United States.

The group is asking UNC chancellor Kevin Guskiewicz, the UNC Board of Trustees and the UNC System Board of Governors to immediately change Tar Heels to Rams — allowing the university to keep its mascot Rameses, named after legendary football player Jack “the battering ram” Merritt.

William Thorpe, a 52-year-old UNC alumnus and Chapel Hill native who grew up going to Dean Smith’s UNC basketball camps, says he is a huge North Carolina fan but never felt comfortable rooting for the Tar Heels. “If you call yourself a Tar Heel … you’re cheering for the essence of white supremacy,” Thorpe told The News & Observer, adding it’s like saying “Go Confederate soldiers!” or “It’s a great day to be a Confederate soldier.”

Thorpe's group is also asking athletes, particularly Black athletes, and fans to take a stand against calling themselves Tar Heels.

The Tar Heels moniker has a murky past. UNC history professor Jim Leloudis, chair of the university's Commission on History, Race & A Way Forward, says the origin of the “Tar Heels” name is complicated and convoluted.

“It’s hard to untangle,” Leloudis told The News & Observer. “The term, at first, is derogatory in terms of race and class, then gets turned into a symbol of Confederate pride and loyalty.”

UNC's explanation of the term refers to North Carolina’s economic history as a top producer of turpentine supplies for the naval industry. “Workers who distilled turpentine from the sticky sap of pine trees and burned pine boughs to produce tar and pitch often went barefoot during hot summer months and undoubtedly collected tar on their heels,” the university's website says. Calling someone a “rosin heel” or “tar heel” was considered an insult.

Leloudis said it was “dirty, undesirable work,” usually done by people who were enslaved or by poor whites. “Tar Heel was a derogatory term, in both race and class,” he said.

UNC also mentions the term Tar Heels in connection to the Civil War. “During the Civil War, North Carolina soldiers flipped the meaning of the term, and turned an epithet into an accolade. They called themselves ‘tar heels’ as an expression of state pride. Others adopted the term and North Carolina became widely known as the ‘Tar Heel State,’ ” according to UNC’s website.

The protestors' petition comes as the university considers removing the names from four campus buildings with ties to racism and white supremacy at today's Board of Trustees meeting.