NEWS: DOJ opens Cates case
U.S. Department of Justice investigating 1970 campus murder
THE U.S. DEPARTMENT OF JUSTICE has opened an investigation into the circumstances surrounding the murder of James Lewis Cates Jr., who was stabbed on UNC’s campus in 1970 and bled to death when he was not transported to the hospital in a timely manner.
The family of James Cates, represented by his cousins Nate Davis and Valerie P. Foushee, are announcing this investigation with the following statement provided to Stone Walls:
Fifty-two years ago when we lost our beloved cousin James Lewis Cates Jr., community members asked the U.S. Department of Justice to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death. They never heard back from the DOJ in 1970. But this January, in 2022, we did. The Civil Rights Division of the U.S. Department of Justice contacted us about the possibility of opening an investigation with the authority granted under the Emmett Till Act. Now we can announce that the federal government has officially opened a case to investigate the death of James Cates on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. We do not know where this process will lead, but we are glad that it is taking place, even if all these decades later. We would like to express our deep gratitude to our community, especially those who loved him and have kept his memory alive, and extend our heartfelt thanks to so many who have refused to let the name James Cates fade again. Thank you to so many students on campus, both in the 1970s and in recent years, who have advocated to remember James Cates, and to the members of the James Cates Remembrance Coalition, whose work to preserve the history surrounding our tragic loss continues. “Baby Boy,” as we call him, can never be brought back, but perhaps there might finally be some accountability. And we know he will not be forgotten again.
Nate Davis
Valerie P. Foushee
More information about the DOJ’s Cold Case Initiative under the Till Act and its Reauthorization can be found here on the DOJ’s website. It includes a list of cases that have been opened under the Till Act that now includes James Cates.
For more information about James Cates:
The James Cates Remembrance Coalition’s proposal to name the UNC Student Stores building for him, endorsed by many dozens of community members, local leaders, and organizations. (There is another, student-led proposal for a permanent memorial on campus that is also supported by the Cates family.)
A webinar on James Cates featuring his family and friends
An essay for The Assembly by Nate Davis and Valerie P. Foushee advocating for James Cates Building, titled, “Say His Name: James Cates”
“Re/Collecting Chapel Hill” podcast episode about James Cates
Video of the 50th anniversary Community Remembrance Walk
Stone Walls at the 50th anniversary on James Cates’s life and community
Twitter thread about the circumstances of his death
(In the interest of full disclosure: I am on the James Cates Remembrance Coalition, which is guided by the family.)
STONE WALLS UPDATE
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