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In three resolutions passed at a special meeting on Wednesday morning, the five-member Task Force roundly criticized the legacy of the Confederacy and blasted the movement's stances on race and slavery.
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Members also blasted the circumstances that led to the dedication of the three monuments on the Capitol grounds: a tall obelisk of the Confederate Soldiers Monument outside the State Capitol was dedicated in 1895 while the Monument to the Women of the Confederacy was dedicated in 1914.
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A third statue outside the Capitol, a memorial to Henry Lawson Wyatt, was dedicated in 1912. A native of Edgecombe County, Wyatt is purported to be the first Confederate Soldier killed in action.
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Still, Ruffin said, members felt they were limited by a law passed by the Republican-led General Assembly which requires state approval for relocating any monuments.
The resolutions were later adopted by the full 11-member Historical Commission. All commissioners serve six-year terms and are nominated by the governor (four current members were nominated by Cooper, seven by former Gov. Pat McCrory).