Juliegrace Brufke, DCNF

A petition to remove a 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.

“Together we can put white supremacy down, flip it and reverse it,” the petition continues. “Let us come together in getting City Council to erect this statue in honor of Missy Elliott and all those in the great City of Portsmouth who work it each and every day. Ycamerpus Etihw!”

The debate surrounding whether confederate statues should be removed throughout the country has become heated over the course of the past seven days. Critics of the monuments argue it glorifies figures that don’t represent the United States’ values while proponents argue you cannot erase history.

“This week it’s Robert E. Lee. I noticed that Stonewall Jackson is coming down,” the president said at his Tuesday press conference. “I wonder is it George Washington next week, and is it Thomas Jefferson the week after?”

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