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.
