Christopher Columbus Statue Toppled in Baltimore, Thrown into Harbor

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[Christopher Columbus Statue]
NPR: “The marble statue toppled Saturday night depicts Columbus facing east into the rising sun, and was dedicated by former Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer and President Ronald Reagan in Oct. 1984.”
Photo: YouTube

A statue of criminal mass murderer Christopher Columbus was pulled down by protesters in Baltimore.

Protesters in Baltimore pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus and hurled it into the city’s Inner Harbor on Saturday night, adding to the list of monuments toppled during nationwide demonstrations against racism and police brutality.

In videos posted to social media, protesters can be seen using ropes to yank down the statue — located near the city’s Little Italy neighborhood — before throwing it into the harbor amid cheers.

According to the Baltimore Sun, they were marching in support of the reallocation of funds from the police department to social services, a reassessment of the public education system, reparations for Black people, housing for the homeless and the removal of statues “honoring white supremacists, owners of enslaved people, perpetrators of genocide, and colonizers.”

While the 15th-century Italian explorer credited with discovering the New World was once widely hailed as a hero, his legacy is increasingly one of violence against and exploitation of native people.

Lester Davis, a spokesman for Baltimore Mayor Bernard C. “Jack” Young, told the Sun the toppled statue is part of a “re-examination taking place nationally and globally around some of these monuments and statues that may represent different things to different people.”

“We understand the dynamics that are playing out in Baltimore are part of a national narrative,” Davis said. “We understand the frustrations. What the city wants to do is serve as a national model, particularly with how we’ve done with protesting. We’ve seen people who have taken to the streets, we have supported them. We are going to continue to support it. That’s a full stop.”

The marble statue toppled Saturday night depicts Columbus facing east into the rising sun, and was dedicated by former Baltimore Mayor William Donald Schaefer and President Ronald Reagan in Oct. 1984.

For the rest of this NPR story log on to: https://www.npr.org/sections/live-updates-protests-for-racial-justice/2020/07/05/887423624/baltimore-protesters-topple-columbus-statue

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