A petition has been created to replace all statues of Confederate figures with statues of The Mothman.
At first read, this could be interpreted as a parody of the recent toppling of racist statues that have occurred throughout the United States in response to the past and present extreme police brutality; however, this Change.org petition -- which has over 2,200 signatures -- goes deeper and addresses important components of American history. That said, the goal is to replace all Confederate statues with historical figures that have meaning for the areas in which they are erected.
The last several months have held space to protests in support of the Black Lives Matters (BLM) movement sparked by the brutal murder of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and more. While the 2020 BLM protests look different due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the message is the same as it was in 2014, as well as in the 1960s during the Civil Rights Movement.
Mothman originates from Point Pleasant, West Virginia, which has 21 Confederate-related statues across the state despite fighting for the Union. In fact, WV is the only state created due to the Civil War. As for the character, he is an urban legend that has been an important symbol of history for West Virginians for decades that does not have a marred past of violence, homophobia or racism. Mothman has also made appearances in comics and Fallout 76, showing how influential his myth and legend actually is.
As for the reasoning behind replacing Confederate statues with Mothman, the petition argues that literally anything is better than commemorating the "Confederate icons that plague American cities today."
Regardless of whether it gains any traction, this petition for Mothman has sparked important, uncomfortable conversations surrounding the memorialized figures we see throughout the U.S. -- this is one thing that the Mothman did not prophesize.