NC Supreme Court hears arguments on fate of Confederate monument honoring Zebulon Vance in Asheville
Efforts to reinstate a monument for former North Carolina governor and Confederate Col. Zebulon Vance continued Wednesday with the state supreme court hearing arguments about the case.
It could take months for the North Carolina Supreme Court to issue its decision on what to do with the Vance Monument in Asheville.
The base of Vance Monument remains at downtown Asheville’s Pack Square. The granite block pieces remain disassembled at an undisclosed location.
In 2021, the city of Asheville voted to remove the Vance Monument.
The 75-foot-tall obelisk had stood at Pack Square since 1882 to honor Vance, who was also a slave owner.
“[Vance] opposed rights for Blacks and firmly believed that Black [people’s] place was in servitude,” said Dr. Oralene Simmons with the Vance Monument Task Force.
However, the Society for the Historical Preservation of the 26th North Carolina Troops, a group dedicated to preserving the history of the monument, filed a lawsuit to stop efforts to remove the monument.
Edward Phillips, representing the Society for the Historical Preservation of the 26th North Carolina Troops, said, “Their intent at the beginning was a restoration, so it would be preserved for the future.”
His group argues that in removing the statue, the city violated that agreement.
The big legal question during Wednesday’s hearing was: Does the Society of Historical Preservation of the 26th North Carolina Troops have legal standing or the right to bring the case.
City of Asheville attorney Eric Edgerton said the contract is no longer in play.
"It's a contract that had been completed and is no longer in existence,” Edgerton said.
Through Phillips, WRAL News reached out to members of the Society for the Historical Preservation of the 26th North Carolina Troops but none responded on Wednesday.
Asheville Mayor Esther Manheimer explained the decision city leaders made in 2021.
“We have come to understand that the symbol of our community that shouts out every day that some people are less than others is not a value we can embrace any longer,” Manheimer said.
Simmons, with the Vance Monument Task Force, echoed the same sentiments.
“This monument no longer has a place in our mountain town,” Simmons said. “We moved on to the future.”
Vance’s descendant, Noelle Nicole, was in the courtroom on Wednesday.
"As a Vance family descendant, I am committed to being honest about my family history and working to remove monuments that glorify white supremacy," Nicole said.
Emancipate NC attorney Jaelyn Miller said the implications of the case are bigger than the issue at hand.
"This court, in overturning that decision, would be stepping in and overturning the will of the people and the will of the duly elected officials in Asheville, and that should alarm all of us,” Miller said.
The NC Campaign to Remove Confederate Monuments has put together a map of Confederate monuments outside North Carolina courthouses. Click or tap here to see the map.
