Officials vote to remove Confederate monuments in Asheville

ASHEVILLE, N.C. (AP) — Government officials in North Carolina have voted for a measure that calls for the removal of two Confederate monuments in the city of Asheville.

The Citizen Times reports that the Buncombe County Board of Commissioners voted Tuesday to remove a monument to Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee as well as another Confederate monument in front of the county courthouse.

The vote follows a separate vote by Asheville city officials to approve a joint resolution calling for the removal of the memorials.

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The United Daughters of the Confederacy owns the monuments. The resolution gives the private organization 90 days after the resolution’s passage to remove the monuments. If not, the city and county will.

Sara N. Powell, president of the North Carolina Division of the United Daughters of the Confederacy, previously told the Citizen Times that the organization categorically opposes any effort to “destroy, remove, relocate, or mischaracterize Confederate memorials.”

The votes follow in the wake of protests that were sparked by the death of George Floyd, a black man who died in police custody in Minneapolis.

Demonstrators have been rallying against police brutality and systemic racism. And Confederate monuments have been coming down throughout the South.