In the latest chapter of “Everything Is Racist,” the Perpetual Outrage Mob – this time in Charlottesville, Virginia, as if that town hasn’t been through enough – are demanding city officials uproot a statue of Sacagawea over what they perceive as racial and sexist undertones.
The over 100-year-old statue depicts European explorers Lewis and Clark setting their sights on the horizon as Sacagawea, the Native American woman famous for guiding them on their historic journey, crouches to the ground appearing to track something.
But apparently to some, her kneeling posture, however reasonable, is somehow demeaning. According to the Daily Signal, one local resident was distressed over the statue because she says Sacagawea looks "concerned."
During the council’s June meeting, Charlottesville resident Grace Hays said that, as a Native American, the statue pained her.
“When you get close to her face, you kind of see that she looks concerned at the very least,” Hays told the council. “Maybe afraid. She’s crouching, she’s hiding, she’s there with her baby.”
“I have my feelings about the statue,” Hays said. “I also feel like her family, her descendants’ feelings, are really the most important in terms of how she’s portrayed.”
The issue is so pressing, in fact, that the city council actually considered spending $75,000 to form a “commission” to figure out what to do about the statue.
“Instead, it decided to use the money to pay for travel costs for Sacagawea’s descendants and other Native Americans to travel to Charlottesville to offer their perspectives,” the Daily Signal reports.
“We are in a position where we have to move it 20 feet. One of my colleagues raised the idea of relocating it or removing it,” Democratic Vice Mayor Heather Hill told The Daily Signal in an interview.
“There’s just different opinions. Obviously, some see it as art and that she is guiding Lewis and Clark on their expedition. Others see it as a [physical posture where] she is not being elevated. We’ve heard compelling arguments each way.”
While Charlottesville city officials squabble over a century-old statue and spend buckets of taxpayer cash flying Native Americans in to debate the topic, roughly a quarter of the city’s population is living in poverty.