(Washington) Protesters debunked a statue of Christopher Columbus on Saturday in Baltimore, on the east coast of the United States, the latest attack on monuments or statues of historical figures linked to slavery or colonization.
Posted on July 5 2020 at 7 a.m. 29
France Media Agency
According to images broadcast by the Baltimore Sun , demonstrators have unbolted the statue of the Genoese navigator at the help of ropes, near the district of Little Italy.
Long celebrated as “the one who discovered America”, Christopher Columbus is today seen by some as the symbol of the arrival of Europeans and the conquest of land not belonging to them.
In the wake of the protests against racial inequality sparked by the death of George Floyd, an African-American killed by a white police officer in Minneapolis on 25 May, many statues of figures linked to colonial history or to discrimination have been debunked or attacked, in the United States and elsewhere in the world.
In his speech Saturday on the occasion of the national holiday of July 4, marking Independence Day, when in 1776 Thirteen British colonies proclaimed their separation from the British crown, President Donald Trump mentioned the Genoese navigator.
“We will fight together for the American dream, and we will defend, protect, and preserve the American way of life that began in 1492 when Christopher Columbus discovered America ”, he declared, attacking the demonstrators who denounce racial discrimination.
PHOTO PATRICK SEMANSKY, ASSOCIATED PRESS
“We are defeating the radical left, the Marxists, the anarchists, the agitators and the plunderers”, added Donald Trump during a ceremony in the gardens of the White House
“We will never allow an angry crowd to demolish our statues, erase our history and indoctrinate our children,” he said.
M. Trump had previously asked police on Friday to arrest and prosecute anyone who damaged a monument.
Several statues of Christopher Columbus have been removed or vandalized, notably in Boston, Miami, Richmond, Virginia or Camden, in New Jersey. For its part, the municipality of San Francisco has removed a statue of the navigator from its local parliament.
