Global InformationList of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests information
 | This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items. (June 2020) |
- The J. E. B. Stuart Monument, defaced during protests in Richmond, Virginia, was removed on July 7, 2020.
- The statue of Christopher Columbus at the Minnesota State Capitol moments after it was pulled from its pedestal by American Indian Movement protesters.
- The vandalized statue of Robert Milligan outside the Museum of London Docklands before it was removed.
- The Albert Pike Memorial in Washington, D.C., after protesters toppled the statue of Pike.
During the civil unrest[1] that followed the murder of George Floyd in May 2020, a number of monuments and memorials associated with racial injustice were vandalized, destroyed or removed, or commitments to remove them were announced. This occurred mainly in the United States, but also in several other countries. Some of the monuments in question had been the subject of lengthy, years-long efforts to remove them, sometimes involving legislation and/or court proceedings. In some cases the removal was legal and official; in others, most notably in Alabama and North Carolina,[2] laws prohibiting the removal of monuments were deliberately broken.
Initially, protesters targeted monuments related to the Confederate States of America[citation needed]. As the scope of the protests broadened to include other forms of systemic racism, many statues of other controversial figures such as Christopher Columbus,[3][4] Junípero Serra, Juan de Oñate and Kit Carson were torn down or removed. Monuments to many other local figures connected with racism were also targeted by protestors.[citation needed][clarification needed]. Statues of American slave owners such as Thomas Jefferson, George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant, and Francis Scott Key were also vandalised or removed.[5][6][7] According to the Huffington Post, by October 2020 over a hundred Confederate symbols had been "removed, relocated or renamed", based on data from the Southern Poverty Law Center.[8]
Some monuments that were not associated with the Confederacy, slavery, or racism were also targeted. In Madison, Wisconsin, the statue of abolitionist Hans Christian Heg, was torn down and thrown into a lake.[9][10][11] Protestors also tore down a statue titled Forward, by sculptor Jean Pond Miner, which depicts the embodiment of the Wisconsin state motto.[12] In Portland, a statue of an elk was removed after several bonfires lit beneath the statue caused structural damage to the statue's base.[13] A statue of York, a Black slave with the Lewis and Clark Expedition, was removed by the University of Portland after it was vandalised.[14]
In the United Kingdom, removal efforts and vandalism focused on memorials to figures involved in the transatlantic slave trade, British colonialism, and eugenics.[15][16] In Belgium, sculptures of King Leopold II were targeted due to his rule during the atrocities in the Congo Free State. In New Zealand, a statue of a British military officer John Hamilton was removed, and in India another colonial-era statue was relocated. In South Africa, a bust of Cecil Rhodes was decapitated, and a statue of the last president of the Orange Free State was taken down.
This list is limited to successful removals, and instances in which a person or body with authority has committed itself to removal. It does not include the many works that have been the subject of petitions, protests, defacement, or attempted removals, such as the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, D.C.,[17] and many statues of Leopold II in Belgium. It also does not include statues that fell or subject to attempted removals as a result of the Rhodes Must Fall movement that predates Floyd's murder by five years[18][19] such as the statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford, England.[20][21][22]
- ^ Segers, Grace (June 27, 2020). "Trump Signs Executive Order to Protect Monuments". CBS News. Archived from the original on June 27, 2020. Retrieved June 27, 2020.
- ^ "§ 100-2.1. Protection of monuments, memorials, and works of art" (PDF). North Carolina General Assembly.
- ^ Brockell, Gillian (October 14, 2019). "Here are the indigenous people Christopher Columbus and his men could not annihilate". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 3, 2021.
- ^ "'American Taliban.' Ted Cruz sounds off after protesters topple Columbus statues". Fort Worth Star-Telegram. June 11, 2020.
- ^ "San Francisco protesters topple statues of Ulysses Grant and other slave owners". The Guardian. June 20, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- ^ "Portland Man Describes Tearing Down Thomas Jefferson Statue: "It's Not Vandalism"". Willamette Week. June 20, 2020. Retrieved September 10, 2020.
- ^ "George Washington statue toppled, American flag burned by Portland protesters". The Hill. June 19, 2020.
- ^ Mathias, Christopher (October 14, 2020). "Exclusive: Over 100 Confederate Symbols Have Been Removed Or Renamed Since Cops Killed George Floyd". HuffPost. Retrieved October 14, 2020.
- ^ Journal, Teryl Franklin | Wisconsin State (September 27, 2020). "Who was Hans Heg, whose statue was torn down in Madison? Here's why the Civil War hero was memorialized". madison.com.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Andrea, Molly Beck and Lawrence. "Madison protesters tear down Capitol statues, attack state senator from Milwaukee as fury erupts again". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- ^ Andrea, Lawrence. "Hans Christian Heg was an abolitionist who died trying to end slavery. What to know about the man whose statue was toppled in Madison". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- ^ Spicuzza, Mary. "What to know about the Forward statue that was toppled during Madison protests". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
- ^ Oregonian/OregonLive, Lizzy Acker | The (July 2, 2020). "Iconic Portland elk statue removed from downtown after fire set during protest". oregonlive.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ Oregonian/OregonLive, K. Rambo | The (June 18, 2020). "University of Portland takes down statue of Lewis & Clark slave York". oregonlive.
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link) - ^ "Statue Of Winston Churchill Is Covered Up In London". NPR. June 12, 2020.
- ^ "Statue of Queen Victoria defaced in Hyde Park, Leeds". BBC News. June 9, 2020.
- ^ Natanson, Hannah; Heim, Joe; Miller, Michael E.; Jamison, Peter. "Protesters denounce Abraham Lincoln statue in D.C., urge removal of Emancipation Memorial". The Washington Post. Archived from the original on June 30, 2020. Retrieved June 30, 2020.
- ^ Hall, Martin. "The symbolic statue dividing a South African university". BBC News. Retrieved April 4, 2015.
- ^ "Why Rhodes Must Fall". Harvard Political Review. March 21, 2021. Retrieved January 19, 2022.
- ^ Historic England. "The Rhodes Building (North Range), Oriel College (1046662)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved June 18, 2020.
- ^ Pilgrim, Tom (June 18, 2020), College's desire to remove Cecil Rhodes statue met with 'cautious' optimism, MSN, archived from the original on June 18, 2020, retrieved June 18, 2020
- ^ "Cecil Rhodes statue will not be removed by Oxford college". BBC News. BBC. May 20, 2021. Retrieved May 20, 2021.