Why protesters are vandalizing statues in US

TIMESOFINDIA.COM | Updated: Jun 24, 2020, 20:14 IST

PHOTO: A statue of Confederate States President Jefferson Davis lies on the street after protesters pulled it down in Richmond, Virginia, on June 10, 2020.

PHOTO: A statue of Confederate States President Jefferson Davis lies on the street after protesters pulled it ...Read More

NEW DELHI: Memorials belonging to Confederacy, a group of 16 states that fought to keep the blacks as slaves during the American Civil War 1861-65, have been targetted in the recent violence that erupted across the globe following the killing of African American George Floyd by the US police in the city of Minneapolis in May this year.

The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States from 1861 to 1865, fought between northern states loyal to the Union and southern states that had seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America. The Confederates advocated for states' rights to uphold slavery.
The confederacy lost the Civil War eventually paving the way for the abolishment of slavery in the US and setting free of over four million slaves.
Since the killing of Floyd, angry protesters have demolished, defaced several monuments appropriating slave advocates across the US. Several city administrations, organisations and universities are also debating the removal of monuments that honour Confederate leaders and other slave advocates.
The statue of Italian explorer Columbus, who is credited with the discovery of "the New World", the Americas, in the 15th century was targeted in several cities across the US.
The native American people have long opposed the honouring of Columbus, arguing that it was his discovery that paved the way for the colonisation of the continent and the eventual genocide of the indigenous population of the country.
Earlier this month, the statue of Confederate President Jefferson Davis was brought down in the city of Richmond in Virginia. Davis was also a slave owner who enslaved as many as 113 people.
The governor of Virginia announced the removal of confederate general Robert E Lee. In Washington, a statue of Confederate general Albert Pike was torn down last week.
Thomas Jefferson, the third US president, has been the target of some protesters, with many statues of the leader vandalized.
Even though he was one of the authors of the Declaration of Independence, he also owned more than 600 slaves and viewed black men as inferior to white, according to the website of his Virginia plantation-turned-museum, Monticello.
The stock-car racing organisers Nascar also banned the display of confederate flags during its events.
The University of Alabama announced the removal of three Confederate plaques from its buildings.
Till last week, as many as 22 US cities have either removed or approved the removal of Confederate monuments.
The backlash against slavery advocates has taken place in other parts of the world as well. In the UK, protesters removed the statue of slave owner Edward Colston and threw it into a harbour in Bristol. Another noted slave owner Robert Miligan's statue was also removed in London.
Seeing statues of their ancestors' slave master, a murderer, or a white supremacist causes hurt beyond repair for many African Americans," wrote television host Shannon LaNier.
Even the nation's father and first president, George Washington, is no longer beyond reproach: he owned 100 slaves at his Mount Vernon plantation, south of the federal capital bearing his name.
"Putting a statue in a public place, it's a form of veneration, and many people now ask why are we venerating people who owned slaves," said Carolyn Gallaher, a professor at American University in Washington.