N.C. city passes resolution to remove Confederate monuments

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — A city in North Carolina unanimously passed a resolution Tuesday night to begin a removal process for its confederate monuments, news outlets reported.

The joint action by the Asheville City Council and Buncombe County would establish a task force to recommend steps to remove or repurpose the monuments at the county courthouse and in the city’s Pack Square Park, WLOS-TV reported.

The move comes amid national protests over the death of George Floyd that has seen Confederate monuments toppled and taken down all across the South.

 The figures eyed for removal in Asheville include a 50-foot monument of Confederate military officer and former North Carolina Gov. Zebulon Baird Vance, and granite markers that memorializes Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee and Confederate Col. John Connally in the park.

Officials are also looking to remove a small obelisk honoring the 60th Regiment of North Carolina Confederate soldiers by the courthouse entrance. The resolution calls on the United Daughters of the Confederacy, a private organization that erected the monuments, to take them down.

After their removal, officials said it’s their intent the spaces be used to honor the local African-American history. The resolution will go to the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners for final approval.