Push for Black Lives Matter street mural underway in Nashville

by Rod Williams - I have been very disappointed in Mayor Cooper up until this point. I have disapproved of the way he tolerated rioters almost burning down the courthouse and how he was slow to protect downtown businesses from vandals and arsonist.  I have been disappointed that he called for a massive tax increase rather than austerity to deal with the financial crisis facing the city.  However, I have tried to retain some respect for him and rationalize that our differences were simply policy differences.  For example, I think it was a mistake to close down lower Broadway, but he has the burden of deciding what is the best approach.  None of us know enough to be sure we are making the right decision in how to deal with this virus. I can question if he made the right decision and still respect his decision. Maybe, if I had the awesome responsibility of making that decision and had gone through the same process of evaluation and felt the same burden of making a wrong decision, I would have decided the same way.  I don't know. 

There is a push to paint a Black Lives Matter street mural downtown. Advocates want it painted on Dr. M.L.K. Jr. Boulevard in front of the Tennessee Capitol. I hope Mayor Cooper does not allow this to happen.  After a 34% tax increase, if he can allow city funds to be spend to paint a divisive propaganda mural downtown, also in a location intended to  give the State the middle flinger, then all respect I had for Mayor Cooper is gone.  I will no longer  believe that he is a good man with whom I simply have policy differences.  If he panders by allowing the mural to be painted and uses city funds to do it, then he is more than just a disappointment; he is deplorable. 

In many other cities where similar street murals have been painted, they have quickly been vandalized. Tossing paint-filled balloons out of their car as they cruise down the street is one method of vandalizing this government-sponsored propaganda.  If painted in Nashville, I wonder if Nashville's BLM mural will also be vandalized? 

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