After Gov. Roy Cooper's call to remove all Confederate monuments in North Carolina . . . Asheville's most prominent landmark will likely take center stage.
The Vance Monument, a 65-foot obelisk that has dominated Pack Square for more than a century, memorializes Zebulon Baird Vance . . . a Buncombe County native and N.C. governor during the Civil War.
The state legislature has ultimate authority over such removals because of a 2015 law prohibiting localities from removing them without state approval. Cooper called this week for that law to be repealed . . . and for the monuments to go.
Violence at a Charlottesville, Virginia, rally over the weekend, as well as a subsequent protest in Durham that toppled a Confederate statue, moved him to call for removal, Cooper said.
Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer said Wednesday she agreed with Cooper and the city should consider removing a Pack Square monument recognizing Confederate Army Gen. Robert E. Lee. (www.citizen-times.com)