When weighty issues divide us, we should spend our time looking for common ground, or how to solve the issue. Because the problem of racism is so prevalent in the United States right now, the monuments made to honor slave owners are the target of hot controversy right now.
Some of the residents of VA have a solution they think everyone can get on board with; they want to replace a Confederate statue with one of pop icon Missy Elliott. According to those who support the measure, Elliott is a true representation of the Virginia spirit.
Via The Daily Caller:
A petition to remove the Confederate Monument in Olde Towne Portsmouth, Va., with a statue of Grammy-winning rapper Missy Elliott has received more than 17,500 signatures as of Sunday evening.
The push follows the acts of violence in Charlottesville, Va., last weekend during a protest against the removal of a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee organized by supporters of the alt-right movement. The petition argues Missy Elliott — a Portsmouth native — is a better representation of the town.
“Before she was ‘Missy Misdemeanor’ she was Melissa Arnette Elliott, born on July 1, 1971 in Portsmouth, Virginia,” the petition reads. “Hailing from humble beginnings as the only child of a power company dispatcher and a welder at Portsmouth’s lauded naval shipyard, she rose to become a platinum recording artist with over 30-million albums sold. All this without even once owning a slave.”
The petition — recently launched on Change.org — needs 25,000 before it can be sent to Portsmouth Mayor John L. Rowe, Vice Mayor Paige Cherry and the city council.
This less than traditional solution to a nationwide problem might not solve it on a national level, but it seems to be bringing the locals together. There is of course still the issue of the history that will be overlooked if these statues come down, but at least these folks are bringing their requests to the city the legal way.
They’re not running the statue that they want to replace down with trucks, or putting ropes around it and yanking pieces off, which is a huge improvement on many of the protests that have been destroying public property in recent days.
You may or may not agree with the choice of a rapper to replace someone who shaped American history but having a discussion about what the people wish to see happen in and around their homes is what democracy is about.
(Source: Daily Caller)