The Asheville City Council voted to remove the third and final Confederate monument from Asheville’s Pack Square Tuesday night. The 65-foot Vance Monument commemorates Zebulon Vance, North Carolina’s governor during the Civil War and U.S. Senator during Reconstruction who opposed civil rights for Black people.
The Buncombe County Commissioners also voted to remove the monument Monday, following a recommendation for removal from a task force created by the city council and the county commissioners. The task force was created in June to decide whether to remove and relocate the obelisk or leave it in place and recontextualize it. During the summer, the city removed a plaque bearing Robert E. Lee’s likeness in Pack Square and a memorial to Confederate soldiers outside the Buncombe County courthouse. Blue Ridge Public Radio’s news director Matt Bush joins host Anita Rao to talk about the history of the monument and next steps for removing it.