Over the past several years beginning with the killing of Mike Brown in Ferguson, Missouri America has underwent a New Civil Rights Movement. Part of this movement has been removing statues of racists, slavemasters, and Confederates from public spaces. In 2017 St. Louis removed the Confederate Monument in Forest Park after protests. In 2020 the statue of Christopher Columbus was removed from Tower Grove Park. It is now time for St. Louis to take the bold step to remove the statue of King Louis IX from Forest Park and rename the city. 

For those unfamiliar with King Louis IX he was a rabid anti-semite who spearheaded many persecutions against the Jewish people. Centuries later Nazi Germany gained inspiration and ideas from Louis IX as they embarked on a campaign of murderous genocide against the Jewish people. Louis IX was also vehemently Islamophobic and led a murderous crusade against Muslims which ultimately cost him his life. 

St. Louis has a large and vibrant Jewish and Muslim community and it's an outright disrespect for those who are part of these faith communities to have to live in a city named after a man committed to the murder of their co religionists. I ask all people of good faith committed to the modern values of equity and coexistence to sign this petition to rename the City of St. Louis to something more suitable and indicative of our values. 

Co-Sponsored 

Umar Lee and Moji Sidiqi (Muslims For a Greater St. Louis)

Ben Poremba ( Entrepreneur)

For further reading 

Umar Lee (2017) 

Michael Allen (2020)