I want to comment on the letters printed in the June 15 issue (while I did not read the article, “The Bigger Picture: Local Historians Reflect on the Vance Monument, One Year After Its Removal,” in the May 25 Xpress).
The first letter was submitted by Lynda Cozart of Asheville [“Asheville’s 21st-century Monument”]. Her letter bothered me much more than the second. I’m sure that many local folks find the notion that celebrating the Iraq War, gay marriage, animal rights and her other suggestions are very offensive. If these are the ideals of this country, we are truly in deep, deep trouble. We need uplifting and moral examples to aspire to, not the filth she suggested.
Donald O. Funderud Sr. of Asheville said he thought the Vance Monument should be put back up [“Put Historic Monument Back Up”], but I believe for the wrong reasons. It should be returned to its place of honor. It was illegally removed. Notwithstanding the pontifications of the City Council and their attorney, the Vance Monument was a gift to the people of Asheville, largely paid for by Vance’s friend George Willis Pack, on property donated by Pack on the condition that it be retained forever.
State law protected the monument and others like it by requiring any move to place one in a different location to be a location of prominence equal to the original site. However, when the governor of the state is allowed to break the law with impunity and the attorney general sits on his hands and doesn’t enforce the law, nothing is safe or sacred. At that point, no law is worth the paper on which it is written.
As far as Funderud’s statement that no one knows or cares who Vance was, that is not true. He is still the finest governor the state of North Carolina has ever had. The difficulty lies in the fact that the schools don’t teach history any longer. That is the fault of the educational establishment and our leftist government that wants to keep us ignorant. All nations that are going to survive must know their own history and need heroes to emulate.
— Tom Vernon
Asheville
What’s done is done. Dig up all the concrete and plant several large species tree for future generations to enjoy. American beech and/or oaks come to mind. And you can have plaques or history boards all you want. But the tree(s) would provide needed shade and are a far more life affirming statement.
Trees are a great idea!
Woah Nellie…you lost me at animal rights = filth.
Blaming the problems with education on liberals is hilarious. It’s the GOP that keeps school spending down in NC and across the country. Liberal states spend a lot more on schools and have better outcomes across the board. NC has a teacher shortage principally because the pay scale is so low.
We don’t need to celebrate slave owners any more. Need to learn history? Read a book. They don’t have any monuments to Hitler in Berlin and no one there seems to have forgotten him.
There are plenty of conservative areas in the south where you can get your fill of Confederate Treason flags. This is Asheville. A blue dot in a purple state. Don’t like it? You can move elsewhere.
You do know the confederate states were all democrats right?
I do know that! You do know that Lincoln was a Republican, right? Well looks like things have changed! Kennedy helped integrate the schools and Johnson signed civil rights and voting legislation. This obviously has had a lasting impact and resulted in a major shift in both parties. What’s your point, boyo? Things have obviously changed a bit in the past 200 years.
Demorats have not changed “boyo”, they are still the same racist, fascists, baby killers they were way back then.
You are most likely from the northeast. The lefties you voted for implemented policies that led to higher taxes, higher crime rates and turned your cities into cesspools. You then move here and vote for those same policies. Do us all a favor and get on I-81 north and don’t come back.
Sorry. This conversation isn’t about Democrats or Republicans. It’s about a monument that looks like a penis. Cheers!