Hip-Hop Fans Petition Georgia to Add OutKast Rappers to Confederate Monument

The Associated Press
The Associated Press
Daniel Nussbaum

Hip-hop fans are petitioning the state of Georgia to add OutKast rappers Big Boi and André 3000 to the Stone Mountain monument of Confederate leaders.

“I believe it is important to recognize the history and heritage of all Georgians,” Mack Williams writes on his MoveOn.org petition called “Georgia: Add OutKast to Stone Mountain!”

But Williams says the massive, stone-carved monument to the Confederacy’s Jefferson Davis, Robert E. Lee and Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson represents only a “small, regrettable time in the history of the Peach State.”

To bring the monument into the 21st century, the petition calls for the Atlanta-based rappers to be added to the monument, riding alongside the soldiers in a Cadillac.

The petition comes as another Southern state, South Carolina removed the Confederate flag from statehouse grounds earlier this month.

However, unlike the flag, Williams says he does not want to remove the Confederate soldiers from the monument.

“By no means do we wish to erase or destroy the current carving, which, regardless of its context, is an impressive and historic work of art,” the petition says. “We simply wish to add new carvings, of Atlanta hip-hop duo OutKast, to the mountainside. There’s plenty of room.”

“OutKast are two of the greatest Georgians in the history of our state,” the petition concludes. “It’s about time the Empire State of the South paid proper tribute to them, while also improving a great monument and tourist attraction.”

The petition had already gathered 9,270 signatures at this time of this writing. The organizers will present the petition to the Georgia State Senate and Gov. Nathan Deal when it gathers 10,000 names.

For his part, Big Boi is open to the idea. The rapper tweeted a thumbs-up when another Twitter user informed him of the petition:

OutKast is one of the most critically-acclaimed and commercially successful hip-hop groups of all time. The duo have won six Grammy Awards and have sold tens of millions of albums worldwide since their formation in Atlanta in 1992.

 

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