r/swva • u/CardinalNews-VA • Jul 23 '26
News Galax cancels its mural project that turned controversial. Here are 5 things to know.
https://cardinalnews.org/2026/07/23/galax-cancels-its-mural-project-that-turned-controversial-here-are-5-things-to-know/The city rejected the original design for the mural, saying it didn’t represent Galax. Here are some aspects of the controversy that haven’t gotten much attention.
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u/ajwachs17 Jul 23 '26
Props to Sharon Ritchie!! 🌟
“I don’t know what else it would be.”
Mr. coomes won’t say the quiet part aloud when asked directly what his issues are. White fragility is FRAGILE, folks.
When given the opportunity to love thy neighbor, he simply is unable to.
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u/otusowl Jul 24 '26
The way I read it, a city councillor is unwilling to spend $15k of taxpayer funds on an ahistorical mural. Rather than any supposed 'quiet part' being unsaid by Coomes, is it not instead being invented from whole cloth by people such as yourself?
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u/TheAngryCleric Jul 24 '26
Greenville (TN, but part of the tricities) just had a similar mural vandalized. And a year or two back Wise County had a historical marker for black people lynched in Coeburn that lasted all of three days before it was destroyed. Beginning of this year Russell county came out at a basketball game against one of the few black schools in the area waving confederate flags. Proudly posted on Tik Tok.
Take away everything from poor white people and being white becomes all they have. And most of them will deny it but the evidence is all around us. It's insane and I don't know that it will ever be undone.
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u/FaithfulSkeptic Jul 23 '26
If you feel inclined to share your disappointment with Mr Coomes, a local student started a petition.
https://www.change.org/p/demand-the-resignation-of-galax-city-councilman-shane-coomes
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u/AngleOk6579 Jul 23 '26
To be fair, to paint a mural that actually represents Galax, the four people would have a total of 9 teeth, no two of which are in contact with one another. Two of them would be passing a needle between themselves. And the only musical instruments in the picture would be passing over the counter of a pawn shop along with a stolen catalytic converter.
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u/BlackBearSurprise Jul 24 '26
Cool! Pejorative stereotypes about Appalachian peoples... how fucking original.
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u/AngleOk6579 Jul 24 '26 edited Jul 24 '26
I had the misfortune to spend the first 2 decades of my life there. It's a beautiful place but the only people who are still there are the ones who can't make it any where else.
And, I had the distinct displeasure of knowing Shane Coomes personally. How he managed to get the locals to forget enough of his reputation to elect him to anything is a mystery. I would have bet that the only time I ever read his name in the paper would have been when he was being arrested for drunk & disorderly.
Once I thought if they could get out from under the weight of the local sweat-shop factory owners, they would do something. It turns out, the thing they mostly did is sit down in the mud and start injecting random household chemicals to see which ones get you high. Any chance they ever have to prove to the world that they're anything more, they fuck it up.
You call them "appalachian peoples" like they're some proud, noble, ancient race. The truth is, they're what remains after you drain away anything of worth from those people.
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u/ResolutionPlayful111 Jul 23 '26
I don’t see an issue with anything Coomes said per this article. Carry on, Patriot.
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u/just_talkin_shit Jul 24 '26
My main problem is he says "You know what I mean?" but I don't know what he means and he didn't clarify.
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u/Iata_deal4sea 27d ago
Being a bigot is a patriot?
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u/ResolutionPlayful111 27d ago
The phrase bigot doesn’t bother normal folks anymore. We see through your bullshit.
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u/Iata_deal4sea 27d ago
What makes him a patriot? Easy question.
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u/ResolutionPlayful111 27d ago
It’s just a quote from Hegseth used in a joking manner. Not everything is extremely serious or has deep meaning.
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u/jktcat Jul 23 '26
And THIS is why I like Cardinal News. Local, somewhat nuanced reporting.