Regarding all the racism and discrimination, Billy Graham is one step closer to being installed in the U.S. Capitol to replace that of a former North Carolina governor who was a racial segregationist.
Waiting for the approval, the votes are pending from a congressional committee. Although Aycock, the former North Carolina governor was known for his support of education reform, he also advanced white supremacist agenda items such as racial segregation and black voter disenfranchisement.
Reported by Christian Post, last month, the U.S. House Appropriations Committee announced the draft fiscal year 2021 funding bill, which called for removing the statue of Aycock and others from the Capitol. Efforts to add a statue of Graham to the Capitol to replace Aycock go at least as far back as 2015, when North Carolina lawmakers first passed a bill calling for the replacement.
"We are talking about someone who has affected positively millions and millions of Americans and people around the world," said state Rep. John Blust. "What more could you want out of someone to represent our state in the United States Capitol?"
The effort in support of the Graham statue gained more traction in 2018, following the death of the famed evangelist several months before his 100th birthday.
If approved, Graham would not be the only clergyman honored in the Capitol. One of Hawaii's two statues is that of Father Damien, a 19th-century Catholic missionary who ministered to lepers.
