Mike Forcia, of the Black River Anishinabe, celebrated after the Christopher Columbus statue was toppled in front of the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul on Wednesday, June 10, 2020. (Photo: Leila Navidi/Star Tribune via Getty Images)
Jun 11, 2020
People across the U.S. and around the world are tearing down statues to some of the most brutal and racist men in history, a movement spurred by ongoing demonstrations against police brutality and inaction on the part of authorities to take down the racist monuments.
The statues, long a source of pain and anger for the victims of racist state abuses, are being pulled down by activists as part of a long-awaited reckoning for western nations with their past.
At the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, activists led by members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus.
\u201cColumbus statue has fallen outside MN Capitol.\u201d— Jessie Van Berkel (@Jessie Van Berkel) 1591826631
"It's a powerful thing for us to be able to dismantle the entire building of this country, the truths and the untruths that have been told about Christopher Columbus, how he came here and he did all of this good work," said Dorene Day, whose mother Charlotte was a founding mother of AIM. "Well, it's all lies. It's all lies."
\u201cThis is Dorene Day, who\u2019s mom was one of the founding mothers of AIM\u201d— Max Nesterak (@Max Nesterak) 1591826663
A statue of Columbus in Boston, beheaded Tuesday night, was removed on Thursday morning.
\u201cALERT: The City of Boston has removed the Christopher Columbus statue in the North End.\u201d— Only In Boston (@Only In Boston) 1591880402
In Richmond, Virginia on Tuesday, demonstrators deposited a statue of Columbus into a nearby pond.
Statues of Coumbus have come down across Europe as well, along with monuments to Belgian King Leopold II, whose brutaility toward the Congolese in the late nineteenth century still shocks historians.
\u201c\ud83d\udc51 A statue of Belgium's King Leopold II has been removed after being vandalized in recent #BlackLivesMatter protests in Antwerp.\n\nThe 19th-century king was notorious for leading the brutal colonization of Congo that led to millions of deaths\u201d— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Bloomberg Quicktake) 1591862405
\u201cThis Congolese man is staring at the severed hand and foot of his 5 year old daughter - punishment for not collecting enough rubber for Belgian King Leopold II. Today people are complaining because a statue of King Leopold has been taken down in Antwerp.\u201d— Rupert Wingfield - H (@Rupert Wingfield - H) 1591710025
In the U.K., demonstrators have torn down monuments to men who made their fortunes in the slave trade and who were part of the nation's imperial past.
\u201cTwo statues have been removed from display in England as the country reckons with a racist past. \nhttps://t.co/xL7cGembgp\u201d— NHK WORLD News (@NHK WORLD News) 1591871430
"It's not the erasure of history that the right fear," tweetedGuardian columnist Owen Jones. "It's that our full history will be remembered, including the horrors of colonialism, and that will force us to reassess our present."
A list of Columbus statues across the U.S. and around the world can be found here.
Meanwhile, demonstrators across the American South tore down monuments to Confederate leaders, including a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond.
\u201cgorgeous. beautiful. I give this 10 out of 10\u201d— Sarah Jones (@Sarah Jones) 1591845054
Elsewhere in the state, in Norfolk, members of the community smashed the heads of statues of four Confederate soldiers and pulled down one, injuring a protester.
\u201cHow the statue looks now\u201d— ellery jones (@ellery jones) 1591837020
Intercept editor Ryan Grim, on Twitter, put the Confederacy-celebrating statues in historical context.
"Confederates weren't just vicious racists and traitors, they were also losers," said Grim. "They lost a single election and quit the country, then lost the war and pretended to surrender so they could try terrorism instead. Losers and cowards."
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People across the U.S. and around the world are tearing down statues to some of the most brutal and racist men in history, a movement spurred by ongoing demonstrations against police brutality and inaction on the part of authorities to take down the racist monuments.
The statues, long a source of pain and anger for the victims of racist state abuses, are being pulled down by activists as part of a long-awaited reckoning for western nations with their past.
At the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, activists led by members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus.
\u201cColumbus statue has fallen outside MN Capitol.\u201d— Jessie Van Berkel (@Jessie Van Berkel) 1591826631
"It's a powerful thing for us to be able to dismantle the entire building of this country, the truths and the untruths that have been told about Christopher Columbus, how he came here and he did all of this good work," said Dorene Day, whose mother Charlotte was a founding mother of AIM. "Well, it's all lies. It's all lies."
\u201cThis is Dorene Day, who\u2019s mom was one of the founding mothers of AIM\u201d— Max Nesterak (@Max Nesterak) 1591826663
A statue of Columbus in Boston, beheaded Tuesday night, was removed on Thursday morning.
\u201cALERT: The City of Boston has removed the Christopher Columbus statue in the North End.\u201d— Only In Boston (@Only In Boston) 1591880402
In Richmond, Virginia on Tuesday, demonstrators deposited a statue of Columbus into a nearby pond.
Statues of Coumbus have come down across Europe as well, along with monuments to Belgian King Leopold II, whose brutaility toward the Congolese in the late nineteenth century still shocks historians.
\u201c\ud83d\udc51 A statue of Belgium's King Leopold II has been removed after being vandalized in recent #BlackLivesMatter protests in Antwerp.\n\nThe 19th-century king was notorious for leading the brutal colonization of Congo that led to millions of deaths\u201d— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Bloomberg Quicktake) 1591862405
\u201cThis Congolese man is staring at the severed hand and foot of his 5 year old daughter - punishment for not collecting enough rubber for Belgian King Leopold II. Today people are complaining because a statue of King Leopold has been taken down in Antwerp.\u201d— Rupert Wingfield - H (@Rupert Wingfield - H) 1591710025
In the U.K., demonstrators have torn down monuments to men who made their fortunes in the slave trade and who were part of the nation's imperial past.
\u201cTwo statues have been removed from display in England as the country reckons with a racist past. \nhttps://t.co/xL7cGembgp\u201d— NHK WORLD News (@NHK WORLD News) 1591871430
"It's not the erasure of history that the right fear," tweetedGuardian columnist Owen Jones. "It's that our full history will be remembered, including the horrors of colonialism, and that will force us to reassess our present."
A list of Columbus statues across the U.S. and around the world can be found here.
Meanwhile, demonstrators across the American South tore down monuments to Confederate leaders, including a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond.
\u201cgorgeous. beautiful. I give this 10 out of 10\u201d— Sarah Jones (@Sarah Jones) 1591845054
Elsewhere in the state, in Norfolk, members of the community smashed the heads of statues of four Confederate soldiers and pulled down one, injuring a protester.
\u201cHow the statue looks now\u201d— ellery jones (@ellery jones) 1591837020
Intercept editor Ryan Grim, on Twitter, put the Confederacy-celebrating statues in historical context.
"Confederates weren't just vicious racists and traitors, they were also losers," said Grim. "They lost a single election and quit the country, then lost the war and pretended to surrender so they could try terrorism instead. Losers and cowards."
People across the U.S. and around the world are tearing down statues to some of the most brutal and racist men in history, a movement spurred by ongoing demonstrations against police brutality and inaction on the part of authorities to take down the racist monuments.
The statues, long a source of pain and anger for the victims of racist state abuses, are being pulled down by activists as part of a long-awaited reckoning for western nations with their past.
At the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul, activists led by members of the American Indian Movement (AIM) tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus.
\u201cColumbus statue has fallen outside MN Capitol.\u201d— Jessie Van Berkel (@Jessie Van Berkel) 1591826631
"It's a powerful thing for us to be able to dismantle the entire building of this country, the truths and the untruths that have been told about Christopher Columbus, how he came here and he did all of this good work," said Dorene Day, whose mother Charlotte was a founding mother of AIM. "Well, it's all lies. It's all lies."
\u201cThis is Dorene Day, who\u2019s mom was one of the founding mothers of AIM\u201d— Max Nesterak (@Max Nesterak) 1591826663
A statue of Columbus in Boston, beheaded Tuesday night, was removed on Thursday morning.
\u201cALERT: The City of Boston has removed the Christopher Columbus statue in the North End.\u201d— Only In Boston (@Only In Boston) 1591880402
In Richmond, Virginia on Tuesday, demonstrators deposited a statue of Columbus into a nearby pond.
Statues of Coumbus have come down across Europe as well, along with monuments to Belgian King Leopold II, whose brutaility toward the Congolese in the late nineteenth century still shocks historians.
\u201c\ud83d\udc51 A statue of Belgium's King Leopold II has been removed after being vandalized in recent #BlackLivesMatter protests in Antwerp.\n\nThe 19th-century king was notorious for leading the brutal colonization of Congo that led to millions of deaths\u201d— Bloomberg Quicktake (@Bloomberg Quicktake) 1591862405
\u201cThis Congolese man is staring at the severed hand and foot of his 5 year old daughter - punishment for not collecting enough rubber for Belgian King Leopold II. Today people are complaining because a statue of King Leopold has been taken down in Antwerp.\u201d— Rupert Wingfield - H (@Rupert Wingfield - H) 1591710025
In the U.K., demonstrators have torn down monuments to men who made their fortunes in the slave trade and who were part of the nation's imperial past.
\u201cTwo statues have been removed from display in England as the country reckons with a racist past. \nhttps://t.co/xL7cGembgp\u201d— NHK WORLD News (@NHK WORLD News) 1591871430
"It's not the erasure of history that the right fear," tweetedGuardian columnist Owen Jones. "It's that our full history will be remembered, including the horrors of colonialism, and that will force us to reassess our present."
A list of Columbus statues across the U.S. and around the world can be found here.
Meanwhile, demonstrators across the American South tore down monuments to Confederate leaders, including a statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis in Richmond.
\u201cgorgeous. beautiful. I give this 10 out of 10\u201d— Sarah Jones (@Sarah Jones) 1591845054
Elsewhere in the state, in Norfolk, members of the community smashed the heads of statues of four Confederate soldiers and pulled down one, injuring a protester.
\u201cHow the statue looks now\u201d— ellery jones (@ellery jones) 1591837020
Intercept editor Ryan Grim, on Twitter, put the Confederacy-celebrating statues in historical context.
"Confederates weren't just vicious racists and traitors, they were also losers," said Grim. "They lost a single election and quit the country, then lost the war and pretended to surrender so they could try terrorism instead. Losers and cowards."
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