“A city has no individual rights and any decisions affecting all should be decided by the ballot.”
The writer makes the assertion, but doesn’t back it up. I think the assertion is without merit.
A city is a corporation. It has individual rights to the extent that the legal fiction of personhood which incorporation establishes allows. The personhood doctrine is necessary because corporations commit material actions in the world for which they must at times be held responsible.
That said, I would welcome a referendum on the Johnny Reb monument. I find it attractive and consider it historical and would vote to keep it where it is. But seeing as others have a strongly-held view that is opposite to mine, a public vote would be the best option.
Tidewater News and Opinion Forum 
Majority rule: The wolves get to hold a vote on weather the lambs have any rights….
Monuments to celebrate slavery need to go into a museum where they can be appropriately explained as an attribute of our shameful past.
Given your thoughts on LGBTQ+ “rights” I’m not shocked.
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RE: “Given your thoughts on LGBTQ+ ‘rights’ I’m not shocked.”
What does making a personal observation about me prove or accomplish?
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Probably nothing, but it pertains to the position you’ve taken on “voting” which falls into the realm of “majority” rule.
A black person (about 13% of the population) who feels denigrated and abused each time they pass a monument to enslavement would have no ability to affect a voting decision of the majority (mostly white) about the issue.
THAT was the point; might ain’t alway right…
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RE: “Probably nothing, but it pertains to the position you’ve taken on ‘voting’ which falls into the realm of ‘majority’ rule.”
Fair enough, but I’m not actually a big advocate for democracy, specifically because of the majority rule problem.
In the case of Johnny Reb, however, the philosophical arguments on both sides (to keep or remove) are equally weak. The very strongest argument either way boils down to mere personal preference.
Under these circumstances, a poll of the community makes sense to me.
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Fair enough, but I’d say some of the “personal preferences” are more “personal” (human ownership) than others..
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I would be interested to know how the letter writer feels about the money the VA GOP has spent fighting lawsuits concerning gerrymandering? That’s taxpayer money being used as well.
As far as the monuments go, I have always held the position that a museum or confederate graveyard would be a more appropriate place for them today. They should not be torn down as they are part of our history, no matter how ugly a part. But monuments to the losing side give the perception that the axiom “Winners write history” mean nothing when it comes to the Civil War.
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One of the complaints by some is that the black population should get over what happened 150 years ago. Even though the reality is the apartheid system we had did not end, legally if not culturally, until 5 decades back.
Yet, those same folks will hold steadfast to honoring the Confederacy with flags and monuments that are obviously a slap in the face to many black taxpayers.
Remember the “Fergit Hell” bumper sticker of a old Confederate waving the colors.
Ironic is being kind.
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