Thanks for reading through to the end…
We share your inclination to get the whole story. For the past 25 years, Xpress has been committed to in-depth, balanced reporting about the greater Asheville area. We want everyone to have access to our stories. That’s a big part of why we've never charged for the paper or put up a paywall.
We’re pretty sure that you know journalism faces big challenges these days. Advertising no longer pays the whole cost. Media outlets around the country are asking their readers to chip in. Xpress needs help, too. We hope you’ll consider signing up to be a member of Xpress. For as little as $5 a month — the cost of a craft beer or kombucha — you can help keep local journalism strong. It only takes a moment.
Before you comment
The comments section is here to provide a platform for civil dialogue on the issues we face together as a local community. Xpress is committed to offering this platform for all voices, but when the tone of the discussion gets nasty or strays off topic, we believe many people choose not to participate. Xpress editors are determined to moderate comments to ensure a constructive interchange is maintained. All comments judged not to be in keeping with the spirit of civil discourse will be removed and repeat violators will be banned. See here for our terms of service. Thank you for being part of this effort to promote respectful discussion.
It’s a piss-poor phallic symbol regardless of what anyone says. I’ve seen some civil war monuments in person, like Our Lady of Victory in Portland Maine, but this one is really lame. Who is really going to miss it?
https://www.publicartportland.org/project/our-lady-of-victories-the-portland-sailors-and-soldiers-monument/
The Vance monument is NOT a monument to the Civil War or the Confederacy.
Zebulon Vance was only a Confederate colonel for one year before being elected governor of secessionist North Carolina for three years.
After the war, he was elected as UNION governor of North Carolina for two terms.
He was also elected a UNION Senator for North Carolina, although the reconstructionist Congress would not allow him to take his seat because of his Confederate service.
That means that if Vance had been allowed to serve both offices, he would have been a UNION political leader for 14 years AFTER the war, versus three as a politician of the Confederacy.
The monument was meant to celebrate the achievement of a western NC native who reached the pinnacle of politics in North Carolina.
The shrouding of the monument is an act of political cowardice by a mayor and city council who will not stand up to the violence, intimidation, and wanton destruction of property that has become a hallmark of the supposedly peaceful Black Lives Matter movement.
So, according to history, it is a monument to run of the mill American politicians. American politicians are opportunistic, and they switch political agendas with the turn of the weather to stay in power. Thus, it is a monument to wishy washy american politicians, whose opportunism would cause them to be the ones, if space aliens landed to colonize the USA, would be the first to bow to the greater power and sell us out to beings from another dimension. Perhaps this monument is in fact a signal to alien overlords. Maybe they are the ones that sent covid virus!