Fan Petitions to Replace Confederate Monument with Missy Elliott Statue

“We can put white supremacy down, flip it and reverse it.”
Image may contain Missy Elliott Clothing Apparel Human Person Hat and Costume
Photo by Christopher Polk/Getty Images for FYF

As the debate about Confederate statues continues, one Virginia man has an idea about a way to honor another kind of legacy. Nathan Coflin has started a Change.org petition to replace a Confederate monument in Portsmouth, Virginia, with a Missy Elliott statue, according to WTKR. She was born in Portsmouth in 1971. “Getting this statue put up will be a lot of work and you may ask yourself is it worth it?” he wrote, addressing Mayor John Rowe. “I say yes and ask you to join me in letting us work it. Together we can put white supremacy down, flip it and reverse it.” The petition requires 5,000 supporters, and as of this publication has over 3,500.

The question about Confederate statues has surged in the wake of Charlottesville, Virginia, where groups like white nationalists gathered to protest the removal of a Robert E. Lee statue. Killer Mike is among those artists speaking out about such statues. He recently announced new anti-Confederate merchandise featuring a Confederacy vs. United States scoreboard.

Read Pitchfork’s “Is White Power Music Finally Getting Booted from the Internet?

Watch Pitchfork.tv’s “The 10 Best Songs of the 2000s,” which includes Elliott’s “Get Ur Freak On.”