Politics and Government

Christopher Columbus Was A Colonizer. Is It Time For Statues Of Him To Come Down Too?

WAMU 88.5 | By Amanda Williams

Published June 24, 2020 at 3:34 PM CDT

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A woman looks at a statue depicting Christopher Columbus which had its head removed at Christopher Columbus Waterfront Park in Boston, Massachusetts. The statue was beheaded and is scheduled to be removed by the City of Boston.

The debate over monument removal has expanded. Protesters around the country are toppling (and beheading) statues of the Italian colonizer and explorer Christopher Columbus.

An account from 16th historian Bartolomé de las Casas attributes the deaths of 12 to 15 million indigenous people in the Caribbean to Spanish explorers that Columbus led.

One Minnesota petition proposed replacing a statue of Columbus with a statue of Prince. And the recognition of Columbus’ violent legacy has already begun. Some cities and states have already renamed the Columbus Day holiday as Indigenous People’s Day.

We talk about how Indigenous activists are leading the fight to reevaluate the legacy of Christopher Columbus.