Slavery Advocate’s Statue Being Removed in South Carolina

CHARLESTON, S.C. (AP) — The historic South Carolina city of Charleston is removing a symbol of its legacy.

City crews are working to take away a statue honoring John C. Calhoun, an early U.S. vice president whose zealous defense of slavery led the nation toward civil war.

After a nightlong struggle, the workers still hadn't managed early Wednesday to lift the statue from a pedestal that towers over a downtown square along Calhoun Street.

The city and its mayor voted unanimously hours before to remove it, the latest in a wave of actions arising from protests against racism and police brutality against African Americans.