More than 3,100 people have signed a Change.org petition to remove a statue of the Declaration of Independence author Thomas Jefferson from the University of Missouri campus, the latest consequence of a black man's death in police custody in Minneapolis.
NBC network affiliate KOMU in Columbia, Missouri, reported Missouri sophomore Roman Leapheart started the petition a week ago because Jefferson, the third president of the United States, owned more than 600 slaves during his lifetime, which was a painful reminder for Leapheart.
"We're not enslaved anymore, but then you have to see someone who enslaved your ancestors, and it's kind of like you're kicking a horse when it's down," Leapheart said.
Although none of the 3,180 signatures can be identified as belonging to students of the school, the number is equal to about one-tenth of the University of Missouri's enrollment of nearly 30,000.
A counter petition by someone who identified themselves only as "university student" started five days ago to save the statue has received more than 500 signatures.
The demand to remove Jefferson's statute is only the latest report of other historic symbols to come under attack in the two weeks since the death of George Floyd, which has been portrayed as an example of systemic racism in law enforcement.
Statutes of Confederate figures have been toppled and Virginia Gov. Ralph Northam vowed to remove a statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee from Richmond "as soon as possible."
Students at Hofstra University in New York demanded its statue of Jefferson, which was defaced, be removed, along with "cultural competency training," CampusReform.org reported.
Additionally, a bust of George Washington was toppled from its pedestal at George Washington University in the nations capital.
The effort to remove Jefferson from the University of Missouri campus is not the first. An initial attempt to have the work removed in 2015 failed, KOMU reported.
© 2024 Newsmax. All rights reserved.