Well, that didn’t take long. No sooner did Asheville clear away the last remains of the Vance Monument than a few rebellious diehards have launched a campaign to rebuild it.
Zeb 2.0 is needed, one commentator said, to regain an opportunity “to engage in meaningful dialogue about our past” and “to educate future generations about the nuances of our history” [“The Case for Rebuilding the Vance Monument,” May 15, Xpress]. Overlooking nuances of our history like white supremacy, a less conflicted voice claimed Zebulon Vance deserves a new monument because he devoted his life to “the welfare and defense of North Carolina” [“Why the Vance Monument Should Come Back,” June 5, Xpress].
Some of us have, it seems, an obelisk-shaped hole in our hearts. And it still has the name Vance on it.
But there’s good news!
You can put away the stones and the trowels and the plumb lines. No opportunities for meaningful dialogue have been lost. No chances for learning historical nuances have been destroyed. You’uns don’t need another obelisk honoring a racist.
The “visioning plan” currently approved by the City Council foresees a Pack Square Plaza that contains something better than a new monument — an open “gathering space” where Ashevilleans can discuss anything they want, including their infamous native son.
It’s a libertarian’s dream — a spontaneous community gabfest with no guidance from government on what subjects to talk about, no official prompts on what facts to consider important and no implied expectations on what conclusions to draw.
If fire-eating evangelists want to preach the gospel of Zeb in that sacred space, they can exorcise their demons to their heart’s content. If more thoughtful souls want to condemn him to perdition, they can do that, too. And the few curmudgeons still offended by the absence of Vance’s ghost in the public square can avert their eyes — a silent protest that won’t cost so much as a can of spray paint.
Some folks, of course, might just mill around without discussing nuances or exchanging dialogue or making any meaningful contributions to Critical Vance Studies at all. Every town has its slackers. But at least a few old-timers should be on hand to regale inquiring minds with tales of the great man’s adventures.
Picture a local graybeard describing how Vance, mustaches blowing defiantly in the wind, held the assembled masses spellbound as he remonstrated with unmatched eloquence against the African savages running amok after Emancipation.
Imagine the young’uns leaning forward in rapt attention as they discover how virtual slaves — excuse me, convicted vagrants — were worked to death in the mountains long after the Civil War just so Zeb could have a railroad.
If there’s time, they might even get around to literal slaveholding and that little Confederate dalliance.
Scholars from across the region will be able to stand on the very spot where the Vance Monument once was and proclaim to anyone who’ll listen how praiseworthy — complicated and despicably racist but ultimately praiseworthy — their boy was. They even might pocket a little loose change from compassionate passersby who mistake the learned commentary for something else.
The Pack Square plan also provides for a “meditation grove” where folks can retire to reflect on the nuances they have gleaned from their dialogues in the gathering space. So the participants won’t be all talk. They’ll have a chance to think, too.
Adventurous souls might even experiment with a reverse procedure whereby they do their thinking before they start talking.
But be warned. Many people might find the inversion of normal experience radically unsettling. Best stick to tradition when change confuses.
Before we close this chapter in Western North Carolina history, allow me a final postscript. As a self-appointed founder of the Critical Vance Studies movement, I’ve watched the debate for several years now, and I’ve come to find that the pro-Vance side, like the history to which it’s addressed, was full of unexpected nuances.
Defenders of the old Vance Monument tended to fall into one of four categories: those who ignored Zeb’s white supremacy entirely; those who thought that his white supremacy was no big deal; those who thought that honoring a white supremacist was no big deal; and those who thought that the best way to critically examine Vance’s racism was to honor him with a 75-foot obelisk in the town square. The latter opinion was the only one really worth discussing — and it has been great fun tearing it to shreds.
A fifth group despised Vance’s racism as much as I did, but they liked the look of the obelisk itself and just wanted a new honoree to replace him. I’ve never had a beef with Team Obelisk per se, apart from its pedestrian taste in public art, and we’ve all learned to make allowances for Asheville on that score. In fact, I’ve even lent some backhanded support myself on occasion.
In my heart, I favored demolition. But early on, I judged that option a bridge too far, so I was willing to settle for leaving Vance on one side of the pedestal and adding three other notables — including at least one Black person — on the other three sides. Readers can review my argument here and here.
My fellow obelisk preservationists, though, didn’t do as good a job of making their case. They never explained how 12 decades of association with a virulent racist could be erased by a mere “oops” declaration; they never explained how their proposed modifications squared with North Carolina’s opaquely written monument-preservation law; and they never did a cost estimate for the remodeling work necessary to change the inscription. They just rhapsodized about the landmark’s supposed grandeur without sweating the hard details.
And that’s why they lost. People who think it’s sufficient to have a sweet, liberal conceit floating in their heads should not be surprised when more focused and determined revolutionaries carry the day. Team Obelisk has no one to blame but itself.
If people want to continue this discussion, they should feel free. But there’s really nothing to add. I suggest we just let the controversy fade to black.
— Peter Robbins
Marshall
Vance.. the white supremacist who happened to be the governor of a state where white supremacy was the reigning ideology of the day amongst the vast majority of the white population of said state. Vance is only infamous ..and only in Western NC, Asheville specifically to be very clear about it all …because of the blossoming of the Woke ideology and the resulting -and inevitable- mass hysteria amongst its most ardent followers ( that apparently hasn’t dissipated amongst the still indignant righteous “revolutionaries” of yore! …lol ) But yes, onward! -which entails looking forward, not backwards- sans the obelisk with the long forgotten name on it. And honestly, there are no winners or losers here.. we’re all in this together, oui? You just have to let it go ….like, really ;) Try re-reading one of the very best short stories of American literature of yore…. The Legend of Rip van Winkle by Washington Irving: Rip was amazed as well by the changes the Revolution brought blessedly on us all ( albeit not the black enslaved) …and spent his remaining days reminiscing at the King’s tavern ..sans the King!
Sounds like Vance is floating around in your head.
Vance was a Democrat
Vance was a Governor
Vance had an interesting piece of architecture named for him
Never heard of a fire breathing evangelist wanting to preach about him
No more no less.
Not “fire breathing.” Fire-eating. It’s a historical reference. Show some respect for the past.
I’d rather talk about the monument without Vance…or Pete
I wasn’t aware we were on a first-name basis, H.
There are many reasons some people believe the Vance monument should not have been removed. I am not a fan of Zebulon Vance, but opposed removal of the Vance monument. Until a few loud voices started calling for its removal (and the renaming of Vance Elementary School), most people did not even know who Vance was or associate the monument with racism. It was a beautiful, iconic piece of art designed by Richard Sharp Smith, a world renown architect. It was a relic of American history. The City spent millions of dollars on the Vance monument issue (attorney’s fees, consultant fees, scaffolding, removal and storage costs, etc.) and that is money that could have been better spent on streets, sidewalks, parks and schools.
Moreover, those of you who are not from around here have no idea how the legacy of the Civil War impacted Southerners, especially those living in poor, rural areas. The Union army (from the North) attacked Southerners on Southern soil. Yes, Americans attacked other Americans and few of those southerners fighting the war owned slaves or supported slavery, but they had not choice but to fight and die for their families and homes. Southern women were raped, children were put on trains and sent to orphanages, homes were burned, crops were salted, and many, many people died. Southerners had their constitutional rights suspended. I was taught that the Confederate flag honors those Americans who died on Southern soil, the strong Southern spirit of perseverance, and Southern pride.
Bear in mind, Aggie, we’re not talking here about whether the Vance Monument should have been removed. That’s spilled milk under the bridge. We’re talking about whether it now should be rebuilt where it used to stand. If I understand your comment correctly, you’re saying that the former monument wasn’t really honoring a worthy man to begin with and it wasn’t facilitating any dialogue about him. It follows that a rebuilt monument wouldn’t serve those purposes, either. It would merely be a bit of artwork that might give some people visual pleasure. There would be no reason to put Vance’s offensive name on it and no reason why the nameless obelisk couldn’t be rebuilt with private funds on private land where folks with more sophisticated tastes would not have to look at it. Thanks for the support. I was beginning to think no one around here agreed with me.
okay, so we’ve got: “..rebuilt with private funds on private land where folks with more sophisticated tastes would not have to look at it.” Again, really, you should just stop… your privileged pedigree, and more discerning and more sophisticated than most self is showing clearly thru ….and it’s not pretty. This, obviously, isn’t about your more rarefied architectural preferences, or the hoi polloi’s “pedestrian taste in public art.” Nor is about the winners vis a vis the losers …which you seem so very fixated about. Honestly, at this point this really seems to be more about your prevailing “more focused and determined revolutionaries” ( which we all must assume includes your esteemed self) ..than the no longer in existence monument. So again, as candidly we can be with the limitations of this public forum: this is kinda not a good look …as was that austere to the point of maudlin (apparently..) obelisk you can’t seem to let go of …so let’s just give it a rest, oui? And oh.. don’t fret: Zebulon Vance will go down in history for what he was and all that he did. ..and who knows? ..you might get your more than well deserved due for fighting the good fight and be memorialized in a footnote! One can only hope. ..Don Quixote comes to mind! ;)
I wrote about the aesthetics of the Vance Monument here: https://mountainx.com/opinion/letter-nows-the-time-to-reimagine-monument-spot/. I have nothing to add on that score, other than to say I think the city made the right choice in going with a gathering space open to all, my patrician disdain for the common rabble notwithstanding.
And, believe me, I’m sorry you forced to read all this. Put some ice on that twisted arm. You’ll feel better.
Vance owned a small farm on Reems Creek and had a few slaves. Samuel Ashe and Edward Buncombe both owned large plantations in the coastal plain of NC. They both owned over 100 slaves. When are we going to purge the names of these two racist major slave holders from the land we stole from the Cherokee People. We need to let the Cherokee select appropriate names for Asheville and Buncombe County! If the Cherokee decline to do so, we should revert the name of the city to its original name: Morristown in honor of the late, great actor and finicky eater Morris the Cat !!
Exactly… and until they REMOVE the discreet monument of Samuel Ashe that greets visitors at City hall and/or CHANGE the name of Asheville and Buncombe, then all of this is total BS. Ridiculous woke BS.