Thedecolonization of public space is asocial movement that appeared at the end of the20th century and the beginning of the21st century in several nations around the world, in the face of the persistence of colonialist symbols such as place names and statues. The movement and its actions emanate fromanti-racist andanti-colonial associations, or from descendants of communities that suffered fromEuropean colonization (e.g.Māori community inNew Zealand,Native American andAfrican-American communities in theUnited States, and theCongolese diaspora inBelgium). It is the most publicized example ofde-commemoration.
This process began in the former colonies after they gained independence in the second half of the20th century. From there, it then spread to theWestern world at the beginning of the 21stcentury. This demand reached its peak among the Māori in New Zealand in the 2010s. It did not reach its peak inNorth America, inBelgium, or theUnited Kingdom until 2020 in the wake of the demonstrations against racism andpolice brutality following themurder of George Floyd, who was killed by the police on May 25, 2020, inMinneapolis,Minnesota,United States.
The questioning of the public markers of European colonial history began in the 1960s, during the independence of many formerly colonized regions. Initially occurring in the former colonies, this movement would spread toEurope itself as a result of the advancement and spread ofpostcolonial studies.
This protest gained particular import in 2020, when the emotion aroused by themurder of George Floyd in the United States spread in the Western world, relaunching theBlack Lives Matter movement. As a result, there were then many militant depredations, destructions, and removals of statues that activists expressed a desire to de-commemorate,[1][2] such as those ofChristopher Columbus in the United States (contested by the Native Americans), of the explorerJames Cook,[3] and of the British naval commander John Hamilton in New Zealand (contested by the Māori people),[4] of theConfederate PresidentJefferson Davis, of theslave tradersEdward Colston andRobert Milligan inBristol,England, ofQueen Victoria,[5] of the formerBritish Prime MinisterWinston Churchill (whose remarks on racial issues sparked controversy) and ofRobert Baden-Powell, founder of world-wideScout Movement, after being accused of racism,homophobia, and links with theNazi regime.[6][7]
The decolonization of public space can be achieved through spontaneous removals, during popular demonstrations (such as with the statue of Edward Colston in Bristol), or through long negotiations or awareness campaigns (as with the statue of Hamilton in New Zealand). Similarly, intermediate solutions can be found such as the installation of explanatory plaques (streets named after slave traders inBordeaux).[8]
Some activists cover monuments and statues with militant inscriptions or spray them with red paint, a symbol representing blood. The activists of this movement, who refute the term "vandalism", consider their actions as a form of strongly symbolicstreet art.[8]
In thepublic space, colonialist references and the memory of atrocities are made up of very diverse elements. These may be statues or monuments, names of public roads (odonyms) or places (toponyms), national symbols (anthems,flags, currencies), cultural elements (names of works of art, gastronomic specialties, carnivals, etc.) or even commercial signs (Café du négro inBayonne,[9]Pharmacie de la Négresse inBiarritz, andAu Nègre joyeux inParis).[10]
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Within theUniversity of Cape Town inSouth Africa, theRhodes Must Fall movement broke out in 2015. This collective, composed of students and staff members, demanded and obtained the removal of a statue of Cecil Rhodes that stood at the entrance to the campus. Erected in 1934 in gratitude for the land he left to the university, the monument paid tribute toCecil John Rhodes, former prime minister of theCape Colony,white supremacist, and symbol ofBritish imperialism at the end of the 19th century. Subjects of discontent were invoked by the collective, such as the under-representation of non-whites within the management and teaching staff, and the supposed persistence ofinstitutional racism, notably via the numbers of registration ortuition fees, or the housing conditions of non-white students.[11]
Although unorganized, theRhodes Must Fall movement spread throughout the country.Julius Malema, founder of theEconomic Freedom Fighters, called for the destruction of all monuments related to the history of white South Africa. Other statues symbolizing white domination were vandalized over several weeks, including the Statue of Queen Victoria inPort Elizabeth,[12] theequestrian statue ofLouis Botha and the Rhodes Memorial in Cape Town, the statue ofKing George V at theUniversity of Durban, the statue ofJohannes Strijdom inKrugersdorp, several statues ofPaul Kruger (one located inPretoria, another inRustenburg, and the third in Krugersdorp), as well as various monuments commemorating theSecond Boer War such as the Uitenhage War Memorial and the Horse Memorial in Port Elizabeth. At theUniversity of the Free State, it was against a backdrop of violent racial and social tensions that the statue ofCharles Swart, president during theapartheid era, was set on fire, toppled, and thrown into a pond.[13] Theprotests were rekindled in July 2020, following the murder of George Floyd in the United States. Colonialist monuments were once again targeted in the country. The bust of Cecil Rhodes, located in his memorial in Cape Town, was then decapitated with a grinder.[14][15]
A statue ofLeopold II, inaugurated in 1928 byAlbertI, was installed inKinshana (named Leopoldville in his honor until 1966) in front of thePalais de la Nation, the current presidential building.[16]
The monument was torn down in 1967 on the orders of Zairean PresidentMobutu Sese Seko, at the height of his policy of a "return to African authenticity", and then forgotten for nearly 40 years.[16]
In 2005, Congolese Minister of CultureChristophe Muzungu decided to put the statue back in place, arguing that colonial history should not be forgotten "so that this does not happen again". Initially re-installed near Kinshasa's main train station, it was removed less than a day later.[17]
The statue finally joined the heights of the park of the National Museum of Kinshasa. Rehabilitated in 2010 with the help of the United Nations Mission in Congo (MONUSCO), it is accompanied by the statue of his successorAlbertI, of founder of LeopoldvilleHenry Morton Stanley, as well as a sculpture in memory of the Congolese soldiers of the colonial army. According to the historianIsidore Ndaywel, "The idea was to make an open-air museum".[16]
The term "Rhodesia" refers to the possessions of theBritish South Africa Company (BSAC) inSouthern Africa within theLimpopo-Zambezi basin region (present-dayZambia andZimbabwe). This toponym was made official by the BSAC in May 1895, and by the United Kingdom in 1898. It pays tribute to Cecil Rhodes, British businessman, Prime Minister of the Cape Colony, and the founder and administrator of the BSAC. In 1911, the colonies ofNorth-Western Rhodesia andNorth-Eastern Rhodesia merged to becomeNorthern Rhodesia (today Zambia), administered under royal charter by the British South Africa Company until 1924, then as a protectorate by the government of the United Kingdom.[18][19][20][21]
In 1953, the British founded theFederation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland, grouping together three of their colonies:Nyasaland (todayMalawi), Northern Rhodesia, andSouthern Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe).[18] This colonial experiment, which aimed to create a multi-racial society where political collaboration between the races would reign, had the objective of taking back control of the territory byLondon in the face of the rise of theAfrikaners from theUnion of South Africa, the economic development of this region of southern Africa, and was to delay the desires of independence among the African population.[19] The establishment of the federation granted certain political rights to blacks, but the white minority continued to dominate political life. The arrangement met with opposition from the majority of the inhabitants, both the small white settlers and the African leaders who were violently hostile to it.[18][20][21]
The election of a segregationist party in Southern Rhodesia led to the breakup of the Federation of Rhodesia-Nyasaland, which was dissolved on 31 December 1963. Southern Rhodesia remained in the hands of white settlers, and became the only "Rhodesia". Nyasaland declared its independence and took the name Malawi. Finally, Northern Rhodesia, which also gained independence, abandoned its reference to Cecil Rhodes as a symbol of British imperialism at the end of the19th century, and became Zambia in 1964.[18]
When Zimbabwe gained independence in April 1980, its new authorities led a major campaign to decolonize its public space, both in its monuments and in its toponymy. This began in particular with the change of the country's name. Formerly called Southern Rhodesia in reference to the British colonizer and businessman Cecil Rhodes, the country was renamedZimbabwe ("stone house" in theShona language).[22][23][24]
In May 1980, the portrait of Cecil Rhodes was removed from the reception room of theGovernment House and sent to theNational Gallery in Salisbury (renamedHarare two years later). In July, his statue, erected in 1928 onJameson Avenue, was removed by the government a few hours before the official visit ofMozambican PresidentSamora Machel to carry out ceremonies for the inauguration of the avenue bearing his name (formerly Jameson Avenue). The statue has since been on display on the grounds of theNational Archives of Zimbabwe.[25] This was followed in 1981 by another statue of Rhodes, then located onMain Street inBulawayo which was relocated to Centenary Park, near the city's National Museum.[26]
The capital Salisbury, named after theBritish Prime MinisterLord Cecil,3rd Marquess of Salisbury, was renamed after its main township, Harare, on the second anniversary of independence in April 1982, thus paying tribute to the Harawa tribal leader (the township was then renamedMbare).[27]
In 1984, Rhodes-Matopos National Park, where Cecil Rhodes' grave is located, was renamedMatobo National Park. Similarly, Rhodes' Rhodes-Inyanga National Park in easternMashonaland was renamedNyanga National Park in the early 1980s.[28]
In countries withSpanish culture orlanguage, October 12 is an official date of commemoration of the landing of Christopher Columbus in theBahamas in 1492, marking the beginning of theEuropean colonization of the Americas. Its name of "Day of the Race [fr]" or "Race Day" since 1917, referring to theIbero-American "race". The homage paid to Christopher Columbus during the holiday, increasingly perceived as one of the figures of thegenocide of the Native Americans, provoked reluctance around this commemorative date. A large number of countries have renamed this holiday: "National Day of Spain" (Spain), "Day of the Pluricultural Nation" (Mexico), "Day of American Cultural Diversity" (Argentina), "Day of the Discovery of the Two Worlds" (Chile), and "Day of the Indigenous Resistance" (Venezuela).[29][30]
In 1921, the significant Argentine-Italian community offeredBuenos Aires a monument to Christopher Columbus on the occasion of the centenary of theMay Revolution of 1810.[31][32][33] Made byArnaldo Zocchi, the statue is made of a piece ofCarrara marble six meters high and weighing 24 tons. It was left in very poor condition at the beginning of the21st century, and presents structural deteriorations caused by the impacts of bullets of the Navy during the anti-Peronist bombings of June 1955, and by the blast of a bomb in April 1987: "Hisberet is split, separated from the head, and there is a crack around both arms", the specialists specify.[34]
In March 2013, the Bolivian government of Evo Morales approved the donation of just over a million dollars toArgentina to erect a statue of theBolivianJuana Azurduy de Padilla, a heroine of theLatin American wars of independence who fought alongside theArgentines, in Buenos Aires.[32] Following this,Argentine PresidentCristina Fernández de Kirchner then announced the removal of the statue of Columbus, which had stood on a pedestal in the Parque Colón near theCasa Rosada, to replace it with the statue of Juana Azurduy de Padilla.[35][36]
The Italians ofMar del Plata, who constitute the largest Italian community in the country, then requested that the monument to Christopher Columbus be moved to the Plaza Colón in Mar del Plata, opposite to the casino.[31][32] However, on April 5, 2013, the civil association "Basta de Demoler" presented an injunction to prevent the transfer of the monument to Mar del Plata and, on April 23, 2013, Italian community organizations demonstrated in the Plaza Colón in Buenos Aires against the transfer project.[33]
A double legal battle ensued, opposing, on the one hand, Italian associations to the authorities and, on the other, the city to the State: an agreement was finally signed in 2014 between the City and the State and ratified by Parliament, which also determined the sea wall located in front of theJorge Newbery airport as the new site for the statue.[37]
In 2016, the monument to Christopher Columbus was replaced by the monument to Juana Azurduy, to the great displeasure of Italian community organizations who went so far as to send a letter to theItalian Prime MinisterMatteo Renzi explaining the situation and asking him to intercede with the Argentine PresidentMauricio Macri. The lawyer of these associations denounced the lamentable state of the monument: "It is on the sea wall of Puerto Argentino, in front of the airport, broken into pieces. There has been damage to the pieces, they have not been properly maintained, there are broken pieces".[38]
Finally, in November 2017, the reassembly of the monument to Christopher Columbus on the Costanera Norte was completed.[39]
On October 12, 2020, during a rally in the center of the Bolivian capitalLa Paz, activists placed atraditional Andean skirt on the statue ofIsabella the Catholic (1451–1504), Queen ofCastile andAragon, who had financed Christopher Columbus's expeditions, to re-dress the statue as acholita.[40][41] The protesters intended to say "that colonization was agenocide, that America did not have to be discovered, that America already had formed societies."[40]
In August 2021, indigenous groups commemorating the Day of Indigenous Rurality tried to unbolt the statue of Christopher Columbus in the center of La Paz, but they only managed to break his nose and paint his face black. The mayor of La Paz decided to prosecute the leader of the group, who was part of theAymara community, but the young man warned: "I challenge MayorIvan Arias to put me in jail! History repeats itself, they will always try to show their supposed power. But what they don't know is that we are rebelling again, this is a warning".[41]
In 2020, while anti-racist protesters tore down the statue of Edward Colston and threw it into the water in Bristol, the statue of Portuguese slave trader Joaquim Pereira Marinho (1782–1854?) still stood in the centre of the city ofSalvador, the port where almost a third of the Africans brought to Brazil arrived. Historian Carlos da Silva Jr. pointed out that Pereira Marinho entered the slave trade after it was banned in Brazil in 1831 by the Feijó Law.[42] The slave trader is estimated to have transported around 11,000 slaves, and at least 10% of them died during the voyage.[43] Later, "in 1858, he created the African Union Company, to carry out legal trade withAfrica, but, thanks to the contacts he had inCuba, where the purchase and sale of slaves was still legal, he maintained the activity".[42]
Historian Moreno Pacheco told theBBC: "Here we don't even have an idea of the monuments dedicated in our cities to figures from the past who have links to the oppression of black people, indigenous people or to political emancipation movements. From time to time we have this debate among colleagues, especially when the discussion explodes in other countries, as happened in the United States in 2017 and now in England."[42]
But things changed in July 2021 when a group called "Revolução Periférica" (Peripheral Revolution) set fire to a statue of thebandeirante Manuel de Borba Gato (1649–1718) located inSão Paulo. Historian and political scientistBoris Fausto explained that the bandeiras were expeditions characterized by torture, murder, and rape of indigenous people that headed into the interior of Brazil in search of indigenous people who were captured and sold into slavery. Most of the bandeirantes, the white men who led the bandeiras, were from the state of São Paulo, where many streets, avenues, monuments, and squares are named after leading bandeirantes such as Manuel de Borba Gato,Antônio Raposo Tavares, andDomingos Jorge Velho.[44]
During the Rio 2022 carnival, theBeija-Flor school paraded at the end of the procession with a float on which stood the bronze-coloured statues of three "invaders, slave traders and propagators of racism" which were then symbolically toppled: AdmiralPedro Álvares Cabral, "discoverer" of Brazil, the writer considered by many to be racistMonteiro Lobato, and Borba Gato symbolically placed higher than the others.[45]
In Chile, theMapuche, who constitute the largest indigenous population in the country and represent 10% of the national population, have many grievances against the state and government due todeforestation,pollution, inequalities in land ownership, and their limited political representation. One of their main goals is for Chile to become a "plurinational state" like neighboring Bolivia, granting indigenous peoples greater political autonomy, as well as official status for their languages. These demands are shared by smaller aboriginal groups such as theDiaguita, a people of the Andean desert.[46]
In March 2017, the bust of Chilean generalCornelio Saavedra Rodríguez, known for leading the bloody "pacification" of the heart of the Mapuche country in the19th century, was destroyed by unknown persons and later replaced.[46][47]
On October 20, 2019, atLa Serena in the north of the country, protesters tore down and burned a statue of theconquistadorFrancisco de Aguirre, who was accused of being a rapist of indigenous women and committing genocide against the indigenous peoples who inhabited theCoquimbo andAtacama regions, and replaced it with a statue of "Milanka", a woman who represents the Diaguita people.[46][48][49] On October 31, unknown persons destroyed the statue of Milanka, which had been made of cardboard and papier-mâché by students from the La Nuez school and installed after a ceremony by the Diaguita community, in homage to the women who maintained the customs, traditions and languages of the indigenous peoples.[49][50][51][52]
On October 29, 2019, in the center ofTemuco in theAraucanía Region, a group of Mapuche militants overthrew the bust of the Spanish conquistadorPedro de Valdivia (1497–1553), lieutenant ofPizarro in the war of conquest and extermination inPeru, and governor of Chile from 1541 to 1547.[46][53] Not far away, another group demolished the statue of the politicianDiego Portales (1793–1837) and hung a Mapuche flag in the hand of the statue of the naval officerArturo Prat Chacón (1848–1879).[53]
On the same day, in the city ofConcepción, whichPedro de Valdivia founded in 1550, demonstrators tore down his bust, grilled it, and impaled it at the foot of the statue of his historic enemy, the Mapuche leaderLautaro.[46][54][55]
Also on October 29, 2019, inTemuco, the statue of the aviatorDagoberto Godoy (1893–1960) was decapitated and his head was hung from the statue of the Mapuche leaderCaupolicán.[46][56]
On the night of October 29–30, 2019, in the town ofCollipulli, the bronze bust of General Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez, founder of the town, was overthrown using ropes.[47]
In August 2020, protesters tore down the statue of General Cornelio Saavedra Rodríguez (1759–1829) in the municipality ofLumaco in the Araucanía Region, as part of protests against the repression and persecution of the Mapuche ethnic group by the Chilean state. According toRadio Habana Cuba, Saavedra is considered one of the greatest military genocidaires during the occupation of Mapuche territories by the army, the oligarchy, and the political class in the19th century.[57]
On March 5, 2021, inSantiago, Chile, a group of protesters attempted to set fire to the statue of Chilean GeneralManuel Baquedano (1823–1897).[58][59] Three days later, the protesters attempted to unbolt the statue and, on March 12, 2021, the statue was removed from its pedestal by the authorities to the sound oftrumpets played by a row of soldiers.[58][59][60] The statue of General Baquedano, a hero of theWar of the Pacific that pitted Chile against Peru and Bolivia at the end of the19th century, was not a specific target of the protesters but, since October 2019, had become the object of a symbolic quarrel between the protesters and the authorities for control of the square, the epicenter of the demonstrations during the social crisis in Chile.[58][59][61] Conservative PresidentSebastián Piñera assured that the monument, erected in 1928, would be restored and reinstalled quickly "because we want to show our gratitude and respect to our heroes".[58][59]
On September 16, 2020, inPopayán in southwesternColombia, the equestrian statue of the Spanish conquistadorSebastián de Belalcázar, erected in 1937, was pulled down with ropes by a group of several dozenColombian Amerindians following a call for mobilization by the indigenousMisak,Nasa, andPijao peoples, in order to protest against the "cultural and physical extermination of the indigenous peoples" of the department ofCauca.[62][63] For the Misak people, the conquistador "was one of the main peoples responsible for the servitude and extermination of indigenous peoples and African slaves in the region".[62]
On May 7, 2021, in the capitalBogotá, protesters from the Misak community, originally from the southwest of the country, overthrew the statue erected in 1960 of the Spanish conquistadorGonzalo Jiménez de Quesada, founder of Bogota: "Historically, he was the greatest murderer, torturer, thief and rapist of our women and children" declared the group in a statement.[64]
On June 11, 2021, Colombian authorities moved the bronze statues of Christopher Columbus and Spanish Queen Isabella the Catholic that stood in the center of the capital Bogota, after two days of standoff with protesters from the indigenous Misak people who planned to topple them.[65][66]
On October 10, 2020, the statue of Christopher Columbus, erected on thePaseo de la Reforma, the main artery of the center ofMexico City, was removed from its pedestal by the authorities in order to submit the monument "to an examination and possible restoration".[67][68] However, on September 5, 2021, the mayor of the Mexican capitalClaudia Sheinbaum declared that the statue of theGenoese navigator would be stored in the Park of the Americas, in a room of the city hall ofMiguel Hidalgo, one of the sixteen territorial divisions of Mexico City.[68]
In 2020, during the celebration of the528th anniversary of the "Indigenous Resistance" (formerly "Race Day") commemorating the beginning of the Spanish colonization of America,Venezuelan PresidentNicolas Maduro declared that he was initiating a process of decolonization: "I have decided (...) to initiate in a progressive, gradual, organized and disciplined manner a process of decolonization and reconquest of all public spaces bearing the name of the colonizers, conquerors and genocidaires". On this occasion, he announced that theFrancisco Fajardo highway, whose name pays homage to conquistadorFrancisco Fajardo, would now bear the name of "Grand Cacique Guaicaipuro", named after an Indigenous resistance fighter against colonization.[69]
On the night of March 15, 2018, two statues of Queen Victoria located in downtownMontreal— the first atVictoria Square and the second in front ofMcGill University onSherbrooke Street— were sprayed with green paint by activists who considered them "racist" since the Queen's monuments symbolized thelegacy of the British Empire for them. These actions were claimed by the Delhi-Dublin Anti-Colonial Solidarity Brigade.[70] The same group vandalized the statue at McGill University again in 2021.[71]
On August 29, 2020, protesters tore down the statue ofCanada's firstPrime Minister,John A. Macdonald, atPlace du Canada in Montreal, with the statue's head coming off as it fell.[72][73] The statue of John A. Macdonald had already been sprayed with red paint in November 2017.[70]
The removal of the statue provoked mixed reactions, even dividing representatives of the indigenous populations. Thus,David Chartrand, vice-president of theMétis National Council, strongly condemned the activists who toppled the statue: "I do not support them in any way. I think it was absolutely the wrong approach. However, if anyone can say that they suffered because of John A. Macdonald, it is us."[73] Similarly,Konrad Sioui, Grand Chief of theHuron-Wendat Nation, emphasized: "That is not our approach, that is not how we operate."[73] On the other hand,Constant Awashish, Grand Chief of theAtikamekw Nation, notes that the incident has the merit of recalling that John A. Macdonald was a notorious oppressor, who adopted policies with disastrous effects for theFirst Nations, played an important role in the establishment of theresidential school system for Aboriginal children and refused in 1885 to allow an appeal of the condemnation of the Métis leaderLouis Riel to hanging.[73]
The Quebec political sphere broadly deplored the action.Montreal MayorValérie Plante "firmly" deplored the unbolting.Quebec PremierFrançois Legault called for the statue to be restored: "Whatever one may think of John A. MacDonald, destroying a monument in this way is unacceptable. We must fight racism, but destroying parts of our history is not the solution. Vandalism has no place in our democracy".[72]Jean-François Lisée, former leader of theParti Québécois, reacted by stating: "I am not a fan of John A. Macdonald (who was not a fan ofQuebecers). I could even be convinced that his statue should not have a place of honour. But it is not up to a group of protesters to decide whether his statue should be destroyed".[72] TheCanadian Conservatives went even further with their contempt.Erin O'Toole, leader of the Conservative Party of Canada, declared: "We will not build a better future by disfiguring our past. It is time for politicians to stop kowtowing to radical activists."[72]Alberta PremierJason Kenney declared: "If the City of Montreal decides not to restore the statue [...], we would be happy to receive it for installation on the grounds of theAlberta Legislative Assembly."[72]
During July 1, 2021 onCanada Day, Native American protesters tore down statues of Queen Victoria and Queen ElizabethII inWinnipeg, near theManitoba Legislature. The statues of the two queens, seen as symbols of the country's colonial history, were targeted amid tensions over the discovery of children's remains near residential schools in Canada in May and June 2021.[74]
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Long presented as the "Discoverer of America"[75] and as a symbol of the contribution ofItalians to American history,[76] Christopher Columbus is generally denounced in the 21stcentury as one of the figures of thegenocide of the Native Americans because, during his four voyages to theCaribbean and the northern coast of South America, he enslaved and killed thousands of indigenous people.[75] He has become a controversial figure in history for the way he treated the indigenous communities he encountered and for his role in the violent colonization at their expense.[77] Native American activists oppose the idea of honoring Christopher Columbus, claiming that his expeditions to the Americas led to the colonization and genocide of their ancestors.[78]
The statue of Christopher Columbus inBoston'sLittle Italy neighborhood was vandalized as early as 2006, when his head was missing for several days, and vandalized again in 2015 with red paint.[77][79]
In the 2010s, many cities and states replacedColumbus Day withIndigenous Peoples Day, in recognition of the pain and terror caused by Columbus and other Europeans.[77]
In June 2020, the actions of Native American activists increased in the wake of the demonstrations against racism and police brutality following the murder of George Floyd by the police on May 25, 2020, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.[77][79]
On June 9, 2020, the statue of Christopher Columbus located in Boston's Little Italy neighborhood was decapitated similarly to in 2006. After this action, the City of Boston removed the statue and the mayor announced "We will take the time to evaluate the historical significance of the statue".[77][79]
On the same day, the Columbus statue inRichmond,Virginia was torn down, sprayed with paint, set on fire, and thrown into a lake.[79][80] The Richmond Indigenous Societytweeted ahead of the rally that "We are gathering atByrd Park to protest another racist monument. Christopher Columbus murdered Indigenous people and embedded the genocidal culture against Indigenous people that we still see today."[77] "This continent is built on the blood and bones of our ancestors," said Vanessa Bolin, a member of the Richmond Indigenous Society.[79]
The day after June 10, the statue of Columbus erected in front of theMinnesota State Capitol inSt. Paul was thrown to the ground.[77][79][81] Mike Forcia, an activist with theAmerican Indian Movement, a civil rights movement for Native Americans in the United States who organized the rally, said he negotiated for years with the Capitol occupiers and received the same response over and over again: "You have to wait; there is a process that you have to follow."[77] But Forcia stated that, "the time for complacency is over"[77] and "the paradigm shift is underway."[79]
That same evening,Minnesota GovernorTim Walz said he used to teach his students that many Minnesotans saw the Columbus statue as a "legacy of genocide," and added that it was time to "take a hard look at the outdated symbols and injustices around us."[81] But he stressed that "removing the statue was wrong because the protesters could have gone through the proper process," before concluding, "Even in pain, we must work together to make changes, legally."[81]
On October 18, 2021,New York City Hall unanimously voted to remove the bronze statue ofThomas Jefferson, which had stood in theCity Council Chambers for over a century. Jefferson, afounding father of the United States, was also a slave-owning planter who owned 600 slaves. According to New York City CouncilwomanAdrienne Adams, the statue represented "some of the most shameful pages in our country's long and nuanced history."[82]
The city remains the owner of the statue, but is lending it for a period of 10 years to theNew York Historical Society, "to protect the work and provide the opportunity to exhibit it with historical and educational context".[83][84]
The Minnesota state flag has featured a seal since 1893 that is considered racist toward Native Americans. It shows a white farmer plowing his field, hisrifle resting against a stump, while in the background a Native American rides off into the sunset.[85] Interpreted as a representation of a Native American being driven from his land, this symbol has been criticized for itsnegationist vision of the violence committed against indigenous peoples during the European colonization of Minnesota.[86][87]
In 2023, theMinnesota State Legislature created a commission to redesign the flag and seal of Minnesota.[88] The commission selected a flag on December 19, 2023, to replace the previous flag starting on May 11, 2024. The new navy and sky blue banner features an eight-pointed star in white for "L'Étoile du Nord", the French symbol and motto of the state.[85] In a statement released on December 19, 2023, Andrew Prekker, the designer of the new flag, said he hoped that "all Minnesotans, regardless of their background, including Indigenous communities and tribal nations that have been historically excluded, can look at our flag with pride and honor, and identify with it."[85]
For the new seal, the commission unanimously adopted a design by Ross Bruggink, depicting aloon, Minnesota's state bird, and theNorth Star. The new seal also contains theDakota phrase "Mni Sóta Makoce" which translates to "the land where the waters reflect the sky."[89]
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A bronze statue ofWilliam Crowther, the state's colonial premier and controversialracialist surgeon, had stood inFranklin Square inHobart,Tasmania, since 1889. On August 23, 2023, the Hobart municipality voted to move the statue to theTasmanian Museum and Art Gallery as a gesture of reconciliation with theAborigines.[90] This was the first time in Australia that such a decision had been taken.[91]
During January 25, 2024 on the eve ofAustralia Day, statues of James Cook and Queen Victoria were damaged inMelbourne by Aboriginal protesters. The statue of British explorer James Cook was pulled down, cut at the shins, and its base was covered with the words "Thecolony will fall". The statue of Victoria, Australia's first queen in 1901, was defaced with red paint.[92][93]
Thenational flag of New Zealand, which features theUnion Jack in the canton, has been criticized for many years for its reference to the former British Empire. A number of people have proposed alternative designs. In 1979,Foreign MinisterAllan Highet suggested creating a new flag with a silver fern on its right side. In 1998,Prime MinisterJenny Shipley supported her Minister of Cultural AffairsMarie Hasler in proposing the quasi-nationalsilver fern flag as an alternative, which features a white fern on a black background, similar to theCanadian flag which features a maple leaf. Canada is frequently cited as an example of aCommonwealth nation that has replaced its flag based on the traditionalUnion Jack in the canton.[94]
On 22 September 2014, after Prime MinisterJohn Key's party, the National Party, won the general election, he declared that "it was high time to remove the Union Jack from the national flag, which symbolizes the former British colonizer".[95] A two-round referendum was held in 2015–2016.[96] In the second round, 56.6% of citizens voted to keep the existing flag.[97]
| Option | Percentage |
|---|---|
 | 56.6% |
_by_Kyle_Lockwood.svg) Alternative flag | 43.1% |
New Zealand is rich in monuments that celebrate colonial figures, with comparatively little regard for Māori heritage.[98] The controversy over colonial statues in New Zealand predates the Black Lives Matter movement (2013),[99] and has occurred since 1995.[100]
TheMāori indigenous rights movement is as old as the European settlement of the island, but emerged in its modern form in the early 1970s, culminating in the1975 Māori Land March, a protest march in which 5,000 marchers travelled the length of theNorth Island toWellington, and presented a petition signed by 60,000 people to Prime MinisterBill Rowling.[101]
A new phase of activism took place in the mid-1990s, with symbolic acts including the attack onVictorian statues. For example, in 1995, Māori activists decapitated the statue of Prime MinisterJohn Ballance inWhanganui during the Moutoa land occupation. Ballance was Prime Minister of New Zealand from 1891 to 1893 and was involved in a number of land reforms, some of which came at great cost to Māori. The statue was replaced in 2009.[100]
In 2016 inAuckland, anti-colonial activists attacked the "Zealandia Memorial" which commemorated the imperial and colonial soldiers who fought for Britain during theNew Zealand Wars between 1845 and 1872, which killed 2,154 anti-government Māori according to historian James Cowan. The activists stole the palm and bronze flag that Zealandia held in her left hand.[99]
Also in 2016, a statue of Captain James Cook inGisborne was repeatedly defaced with red paint, sparking vigorous debate about the legacy of colonialism in New Zealand.Kaiti Beach in Gisborne is where the British explorer first landed in New Zealand with theEndeavour in 1769. His voyage led to the European colonization of New Zealand, a process that resulted in decades of death, disease and cultural degradation for the Māori people.[102]
Another monument in Auckland commemorates ColonelMarmaduke Nixon for his actions during the New Zealand Wars. Nixon was considered a hero by settlers when, in 1864, his troops attacked the unfortified village ofRangiaōwhia, home to elderly men, women and children, and set fire to the church, killing 12 people hiding there.[98][100][103] In September 2017, Maori activist Shane Te Pou proposed the removal of his statue. The mayor of Auckland and the activist spoke and agreed not to remove the statue but to "ensure that the events of that time are explained and that the victims of the war are properly acknowledged... There could be a plaque on or next to the monument explaining what happened on both sides. At the moment, what the monument represents is not a very pretty picture".[103]
On January 11, 2018, the "Zealandia Memorial" was again vandalized by activists, who stuck an axe to the statue's head and a poster on the base of the monument, which read "Fascism and White Supremacy are not Welcome Here". After this action, the activist group sent a statement to the press claiming that the memorial was an "ode to the violent and brutal occupation of Māori lands; it celebrates the continued colonization ofAotearoa, its lands and its peoples".[99]
In May 2019, a controversial statue of James Cook was moved fromTitirangi Hill in Gisborne to a local museum.[104] In November of the same year, a statue of Queen Victoria was graffitied inDunedin, with the words "Return stolen wealth Charles" and "Uphold Te Tiriti" ("Uphold the Treaty") painted in red on the base of the monument.[105]
On June 12, 2020, the city council ofHamilton, New Zealand, removed the statue ofJohn Fane Charles Hamilton, the British commander for whom the city is named after.[4][106]
The council acknowledged that the removal is part of an effort to rid public spaces of heritage items "seen as representing cultural discord or repression."[4][106] "More and more people see this statue as a personal and cultural insult," said MayorPaula Southgate.[106]
Hamilton was a British naval commander who fought against the indigenous Māori defending their lands against British colonial expansion in the19th century, and was killed in 1864 at the Battle of Pukehinahina.[4][106]
The removal of the statue had been requested by theWaikato-Tainui Maori tribe, who have also discussed the idea of returning the town to its original Maori name Kirikiriroa, and who are careful to identify street names that are offensive to their people.[4][106]
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