Thousands of Chadwick Boseman fans have signed a petition to have a statue of him replace a Confederate monument in his hometown of Anderson, South Carolina. Boseman sadly passed away late last week after a 4-year, private battle with colon cancer. According to one of the more prominent petitions (several have been started), efforts have been "made by local residents to remove" the Confederate statue in the Anderson town square over the past few months. However, the movement was not able to gain traction due to a South Carolina law protecting Confederate monuments.

As of this writing, nearly 14,000 Chadwick Boseman fans have signed the main petition. The petition mission statement reads, "Upon the release of his film Black Panther, Mr. Boseman took it upon himself to rent out a theatre in his home town of Anderson South Carolina to show the film for free." Boseman wanted young children of all ages to get a fair shot at seeing the movie, even if they didn't have the funds to do so. "Mr. Boseman is without question an American treasure and his accolades go on and on. It is only fitting that his work is honored in the same place that birthed him," says the petition mission statement.

The petition goes on to say, "We must move past the tragedies of our past in this nation and celebrate new heroes. Mr. Boseman is a hero to this nation but more importantly a hero to the town of Anderson." Whether or not Anderson, South Carolina will take notice of the petition is unclear. While they may not be able to alter or take down the Confederate statue, they may be able to erect a new statue of Chadwick Boseman somewhere else in the city.

The statue in question is of General Robert E. Lee that reads, "The world shall yet decide in truth's clear far off light, that the soldiers who wore the gray and died with Lee were in the right." Over the past several months, the Confederate statue has been vandalized several times, with one person throwing orange paint on it in a reference to President Donald Trump's response to the killing of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police. Local authorities have to clean the statue up frequently.

The mission statement of the Chadwick Boseman statue argues that, "His legacy was one of excellence and equality. As fellow citizens go about their day they should have a face that sees all people as equal." A lot of people are signing the petition, so it will be interesting to see what Anderson, South Carolina decides to do in response. The world has been paying tribute to the Black Panther star for the past few days, with many still in shock that he is no longer with us. If you would like to lend your voice to the Chadwick Boseman statue movement, you can head over to Change.org to sign and share on social media.