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A petition calling for a Confederate monument to be replaced by a statue of Chadwick Boseman has begun circulating online.
The actor died on Friday (August 28) after a four-year battle with colon cancer. He was 43 years old.
Residents of Anderson, South Carolina – the Black Panther star’s hometown – have now called for a statue of him to be erected in the city. A Change.org petition was started under the name Anderson Citizen said it was “important that we honour a true local legend by immortalising him in stone in front of the courthouse”.
Currently, a Confederate monument is located there, but the petition argues it “has no right to be displayed there”.
“[Boseman] opened many doors for many young black people with his leading roles in movies such as Black Panther or Marshall,” it read. “It is only natural that his hometown honours what he did.”
The organisers continued to say there was “no need for political controversy” and instead of destroying the Confederate monument, it should be relocated to the Anderson County Museum. “It should be accompanied by the history of the monument and the reasoning for its relocation,” they explained. “It should preserve history, but not honour the ideals for which the Confederacy stood.”
At the time of writing 5,750 people have signed the petition, which is addressed to Terence Roberts, the Mayor of Anderson, the South Carolina State Senate, the South Carolina State House, and Governor Henry McMaster. You can read it in full here.
Tributes have been paid to Boseman by stars from across the entertainment world, including his Black Panther co-star Danai Gurira, the film’s director Ryan Coogler, and basketball star LeBron James. Last night (August 30), the MTV VMAs was dedicated to Boseman, with host Keke Palmer saying: “His impact lives forever.”
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