Following a petition created earlier this week calling for the name of Jefferson Davis Parish be to changed, a second petition is asking for support to keep it in place.
The second petition, created by Greg Pousson is rallying for support to leave the name of Jeff Davis Parish alone.
"The name of our parish is threatened by someone not originally from here who wants to glorify himself more than any cause. The name of our parish has not caused any problems until now, when everyone wants a spotlight," the petition reads.
This Change.org petition was started in contrast to one by Nick Guidry, originally from Acadia Parish but a current resident of Jeff Davis Parish, who called for the removal of the name. The parish is named for Jefferson Finis Davis who was president of the Confederate States of America during the American Civil War.
"We as a people cannot continue to honor the name of ANY PERSON who took up a cause in favor of the ownership of human lives," Guidry's petition states.
Pousson says that being a native resident of Jeff Davis Parish, he can't see what the name change would do to solve any problems.
"I work with, shop with, visit with and call dear friends people of color, origin, ethnicity and can't for the life of me see where changing the name of our parish would solve, alleviate, or comfort what is going on in this country. We need to fix the problems, and our parish name isn't one of them."
His petition has over 1,000 signatures as of Thursday afternoon. Pousson said he wanted more than "the other one," referring to Guidry's petition.
" I don't know how many signatures i want, as long as it's more than the gamer/ sh*t starter that has the other one. If we sit back, there's no stopping the ridiculous attempts to make all good people out to be the bad guy. Don't let a couple hundred(who probably aren't from here) leverage this ridiculous idea. Let's focus on problems!" Pousson said.
Guidry's petition has reached over 400 signatures at the time of this article's publication.
Jefferson Davis Parish is the name that was given to the area, formerly part of the "Imperial Calcasieu" Parish, in 1912. According to UL Lafayette Center for Louisiana Studies, Allen and Beauregard Parishes were also created during that time.
Guidry's petition calls for the removal of the name for one that is "befitting of the wonderful and diverse population who call it home today."
The petition was only seeking 100 signatures but that goal has since increased to 500.
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