African American monument belongs on ‘sacred ground’ of NC Capitol, Stein says
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Stein proposed $5 million in his 2025 state budget for the African American monument.
- Monument in failed 2019 budget, no new monuments after some taken down.
- North Carolina does not have an African American monument at the State Capitol.
Good morning and welcome to our Under the Dome politics newsletter that focuses on the governor. I’m Capitol bureau chief Dawn Vaughan.
In Democratic Gov. Josh Stein’s 2025 state budget proposal, he pitched spending $5 million on the long-stalled African American monument on the grounds of the State Capitol.
That hasn’t happened, and nearly a year later, North Carolina is starting to celebrate America’s 250th anniversary with special events, projects and programs. I asked Stein if he still thinks there should be an African American monument at the State Capitol, which is a historic site and also houses some gubernatorial staff.
“I think the Capitol ground — it’s sacred public ground that should reflect the entirety of North Carolina. And obviously the African American experience in North Carolina has been critical to who we are, and it should be reflected,” Stein said.
Funded in the General Assembly’s 2019 state budget that never became law — which also came a time when the Capitol included multiple monuments to the Confederacy — the proposed monument has not come to fruition.
In 2020, protesters, and then the governor at the time, Roy Cooper, took down the Confederate monuments. Nothing has gone up in those empty spaces, aside from regrown grass and a planter.
Funding for the African American monument, which would be placed on the southeast corner of the grounds, reappeared and disappeared in Republican-written House and Senate budget bills over the past six years, but only in proposals — not the final version.
Thousands of people visit the State Capitol building and grounds every year, and most of them are schoolchildren. Monuments that remain on the ground now include those honoring World War II veterans, Vietnam War veterans, former governors and presidents from North Carolina.
February is Black History Month. Monday is Presidents’ Day.
In the 2025 House and Senate budget proposals, there was no mention of the African American monument, but there was a proposal from the House for two new monuments on the Capitol grounds: one to celebrate North Carolina’s contributions in the Revolutionary War, and another of the late Rev. Billy Graham.
The Graham statue was the idea of Republican Rep. John Torbett, who told me in May, when the budget was going through committee, that he wanted it to be just like the statue of Graham in the U.S. Capitol.
But no funding for an African American monument, Revolutionary War monument or Graham statue was passed into law in 2025, amid another long-stalled project: the state budget.
Stein will present his 2026 budget proposal in March or April, he said, and the legislature returns for voting sessions in Raleigh in late April.
Stay informed about #ncpol
Be sure to listen to our Under the Dome podcast, with new episodes posting on Tuesdays. This week, I’m joined by Charlotte Observer politics reporter Mary Ramsey to break down the House Oversight and Reform Committee hearing that focused on Mecklenburg County Sheriff Garry McFadden.
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Thanks for reading. Reach me at dvaughan@newsobserver.com or the entire politics team at dome@newsobserver.com.
This story was originally published February 15, 2026 at 5:00 AM with the headline "African American monument belongs on ‘sacred ground’ of NC Capitol, Stein says."
