The North Carolina House has passed a bill banning the removal of Confederate monuments on state property unless the General Assembly passes a bill giving their ok. The measure now waits for a signature or veto from Governor Pat McCrory.
The bill grants this protection to all monuments, plaques, really anything deemed an “Object of Remembrance” on state grounds. Supporters say the measure isn’t just about Confederate monuments. But Representative Kelly Alexander, a Democrat from Mecklenburg County, questioned the timing. "It comes after the killings in Charleston. It comes after the Confederate flag has come down in Columbia." And it comes during a time when Confederate monuments are being defaced, at least three here in Mecklenburg. And more people are calling for Confederate monuments to be moved or replaced.
Another Democrat, Rick Glazier of Cumberland, tried to change minds by changing groups. What if these were statues of brave German soldiers but in a post World War II Jewish community. "And what they see isn’t a German soldier but visions of the Holocaust?" But those arguments didn’t sway the House. When Speaker Tim Moore announced the vote it wasn't close - 70 to 39.
The governor has not said whether he will sign or veto the bill.