French Quarter agency OKs removal of monument blasted as tribute to white supremacy

People walk past a monument dedicated to the Battle at Liberty Place in New Orleans, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. Opponents and supporters of a move to remove prominent Confederate monuments are preparing to speak out over the fate of the monument in the French Quarter, dedicated to a violent uprising against a Reconstruction-era government. The fate of the monument is being discussed by a commission that oversees the French Quarter. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (The Associated Press)

An inscription on a monument refers to the Battle at Liberty Place, in New Orleans, Wednesday, Sept. 2, 2015. Opponents and supporters of a move to remove prominent Confederate monuments are preparing to speak out over the fate of the monument in the French Quarter, dedicated to a violent uprising against a Reconstruction-era government. The fate of the monument is being discussed by a commission that oversees the French Quarter. (AP Photo/Gerald Herbert) (The Associated Press)

A French Quarter commission has voted to remove a 124-year-old obelisk monument dedicated to the White League's brief, and bloody, overthrow of a biracial Reconstruction government after the Civil War.

On Wednesday, the Vieux Carre Commission voted 5-1 to remove the 35-foot-high obelisk monument which stands on the edge of the old historic district. The commission governs aesthetics and bylaws in the historic district.

The City Council must approve the removal. Mayor Mitch Landrieu has called for the removal of the monument and three other prominent statues of Confederate leaders.

New Orleans joined a number of other Southern cities moving to eradicate Confederate and white supremacist symbols after the killings of nine worshippers at a black church in Charleston, South Carolina in June.