ASHEVILLE — Buncombe County Commissioners voted unanimously to remove a Confederate monument from a downtown square following a recommendation from a task force.
The commissioners voted 7-0 on Monday to remove the obelisk erected more than a century ago in an Asheville square to honor Zebulon Vance, a Civil War officer and North Carolina governor who owned slaves, news sources reported. The Asheville City Council was scheduled to vote on whether to accept the recommendation on Tuesday.
In November, nine of the 12 members of the Vance Monument Task Force voted to remove the Vance monument. Two of the task force members called for repurposing the monument.
In June following protests against police violence and racism stemming from the death of George Floyd, the county and city voted to create the 12-member task force and instructed members to recommend whether to remove or repurpose the marker.
