Statues Torn Down, Destroyed, Defaced Across the U.S.

As the George Floyd protests continue, statues are being targeted in cities across the country. In Kentucky, Virginia, Florida, Alabama, and more, statues of Christopher Columbus are being torn down, destroyed, and defaced. In St. Paul, protesters danced around and spit on a fallen statue. Seven people were arrested in Miami after vandalizing multiple statues with spray paint. One statue in Boston was even beheaded. The argument is the monuments glorify Columbus who was not the original founder of the U.S., and colonized it at the expense of natives in brutal and deadly ways. The same goes for confederate statues also believed to glorify an extremely violent, oppressive, and racist period in the U.S. Some city leaders have already removed or plan to remove their statues. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has called for almost a dozen to be removed that line the halls of Congress. It appears images of Uncle Sam are no longer safe either as petitioners call for Washington state to remove a billboard that has been up for almost 50 years.