Senators try to scrub Jefferson's name from the Arch

Via Billy

 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch

How nice that our two Missouri senators can find common ground in the removal of the name "Jefferson" from the most recognized structure in the St. Louis area ("We call it the Arch; soon, that may be its formal name, too ," Jan. 5).

The proposal, introduced by Republican Roy Blunt the same week as the Confederate Monument in Forest Park was taken down, scrubs the name of the slave-owning third president and author of the Declaration of Independence from the monument celebrating Western expansion. Instead of the Jefferson National Expansion Memorial, the shiny silver structure will be named the Gateway Arch National Monument.

Thank goodness visitors can now avoid honoring those who brought white privilege to the Plains, and can purchase "Made in China" Arch souvenirs with no reminder of the author of Jeffersonian democracy.

Someday, I predict a successor to Sen. Blunt will likely introduce important legislation to remove the word "Gateway" from the monument name since the significance will have been lost. Or, perhaps by then the rusty old wicket will be replaced by a giant biodegradable question mark as people won't know what it was all about to begin with.