Long-time Asheville racial justice activist Oralene Simmons said it was only recently that she believed the prominent monument that has appeared on postcards of the city could ever come down.
"But in light of the time and all of the things we have seen happening lately, and with other cities and states taking down monuments and statutes, I just felt that we were in line to go that way."
Simmons, who is Black, co-chaired the Asheville-Buncombe County Vance Monument Task Force, formed after the spring protests.
Members were charged with deciding whether to repurpose the monument — or tear it down. The task force ultimately voted 11-1 on Nov. 19 to remove it.