Last night, in the North End neighborhood of Boston, a Christopher Columbus statue was beheaded amid these Black Lives Matter protests that have been a daily occurrence in Boston. The death of George Floyd has sparked a newfound resurgence of racial injustice movements across the country, which has led to many demonstrators and protesters doing deep dives of various public landmarks, statues, and names in society, with the intent of cancelling or abolishing them in the name of justice. This beheading of the Christopher Columbus statue last night in Boston, is an example of that...
Boston Mayor Marty Walsh was asked about this beheading of the statue and he told the press that the statue is being put into storage today and they will assess the damage as well as the historic meaning of the statue. In other words assess whether or not the historical meaning of the statue is not offensive and warranted to stand tall. This is not the first time this statue has been vandalized...
Interestingly enough the statue of Christopher Columbus really has nothing to do with Black Lives Matter, and yet it was still vandalized. Christopher Columbus has been criticized for arriving in this country and "stealing" the land from Native Americans and treating them disrespectfully. While he has been linked to racial injustice, injustice towards Native Americans, the latest racial injustice movement sparked by the death of George Floyd, has seemed to open up the can of worms for all types of racial injustice, and that includes the ongoing debate about whether we should celebrate "Columbus Day" or acknowledge his statues.
With that being said, do you think the Christopher Columbus statue should go back up in the North End? If I had to make a decision on the matter I would say, yes, leave it up because he did discover this land and is the reason we are all here. Now would I be outraged if it was replaced? No. That would not be the hill I choose to die on. What do you think?
-Producer Lightning