City Council members D.J. Haire and Tisha Waddell are trying to gauge whether a majority of black people in their districts support a Civil War museum.

At this point, Haire said, sentiments expressed at a community meeting Monday night for the Seabrook and Broadell neighborhoods appear to illustrate a growing distaste among black residents for the North Carolina Civil War & Reconstruction History Center.

The museum re-emerged in the public spotlight last week, when the state House of Representatives approved a budget that includes $46 million for the project. That funding is contingent on the city and county each pitching in the $7.5 million they have pledged for the history center.

But some council members have begun to waffle, and Mayor Mitch Colvin said he now opposes the project. Without the council's support, it's highly unlikely that the General Assembly would approve local legislation needed to move the museum project forward.

So it's important, Waddell and Haire say, to understand the desires of their constituents.

The community meeting, at the Smith Recreation Center, was attended by about 30 people. Only a few spoke, and only three voiced opposition to the museum, at times verbally sparring with the project's supporters. Haire, who asked residents what they thought of the museum, said he heard from more residents after the meeting who oppose the museum.

“I am sick of the Civil War," said Ferrell Solomon, a Vietnam veteran and former educator. “We are still fighting that Civil War and it bothers my blood to hear about a museum for the Civil War. The Civil War needs to end.”

Raymond A. Martin said instead of a Civil War museum, a center should be built in Fayetteville to honor the accomplishments of black people.

“We built this country and we haven't received nothing,” he said. “I am proud to be black, but I'll never support a Civil War museum.”

Martin's views differed widely from those of Demetrius Haddock, a black educator who said the Civil War stories that will be offered through the museum about the Civil War is important for future generations.

“I think people need to have this awareness,” he said. “They need to have this knowledge, and not just African-Americans but also Caucasians and everybody else. They need to know what happened during that Civil War period and following the Civil War period, during Reconstruction.”

He said the project would be a history center, not a museum.

“It is not going to house a bunch of artifacts,” he said.

Haddock said it is designed to be an educational center that will link itself directly to public schools throughout the state, “and allow children across the state to learn about things that actually transpired.”

To be clear, he said, the Civil War emancipated black people, adding that people need to understand what the center will be about before expressing opposition.

“Because (the museum) may be the very thing we've been needing for so long,” Haddock said.

John Caldwell handed a sheet of paper to a reporter showing an email he sent to the City Council expressing his concerns about the comments made by people opposed to the museum project at last week's council meeting. One person at that meeting held up a sign that said: “Build it so we can burn it down.”

“What possibly could be motivating these citizens to alert our elected leadership in such dramatic fashion as to give voice in a menacing tone and manner?” he writes, adding that he wondered how many of them have taken the time to be informed about what the project is about.

Mac Healy, president of the history center’s foundation, said he realizes that the Civil War is a controversial subject, but the educational element of the center can only benefit future race relations in Fayetteville.

“The only thing you can do in life is tell the truth and that's why we had experts write this (curriculum),” he said. “It's not about forklore. I understand there are feelings involved and I'm not diminishing those in any way. If somebody goes out there and just shows the accurate facts — as I believe that the Holocaust museum has done in Washington — I think it will change a lot of hearts and a lot of minds when they see what actually happened.”

Mayor Mitch Colvin said Tuesday that the emotional debate at the community meeting reflects what he is hearing from his constituents.

“The basis of my opposition to this is that the timing is very difficult for people to see this in a positive light,” he said. “That was just a snapshot. Imagine the amount of people you didn't hear from last night, the amount of people that don't attend community watches. And the people that I talk to are from all spectrums, not just black people but white people and others who say, 'Either way it goes you are going to have people who are passionately against it, so even if it comes it is going to cause our community to be fractured. And that's my biggest fear.”

Former City Councilwoman Val Applewhite, who is opposed to the project, invited people to attend a community meeting sponsored by Advance Carolina at Smith Recreation Center so they give their views on the project. The meeting is scheduled for 6 p.m. on Sept. 26.

“I am of the opinion that there hasn't been enough outreach in the African-American communities,” Applewhite said.

Staff writer John Henderson can be reached at jhenderson@fayoberver.com or 910-486-3596.