Over the past few weeks, statues of Confederates, slave traders, and Spanish conquistadors are being toppled, and it’s not just here in the US. There’s Bristol England, where protesters tore down the statue of a 17th Century slave trader named Edward Colston and tossed it into the harbor, and Chile, where protesters In Temuco lassoed a statue of a 16th-century Spanish conquistador and pulled it to the ground. Or France, where the statue of Jean-Baptiste Colbert was sprayed with red paint. In 1680, Colbert authored the Code Noir, which dictated a number of regulations for the American and Caribbean French colonies that banned Jewish people, and defined how slavery would work. Then there’s the Minnesota State Capitol, where the long-standing statue of Christopher Columbus was pulled down, and then Richmond VA, where the statue of the confederate general Williams Carter Wickham was toppled.
In the wake of George’s Floyd’s killing, and the widespread protests across our nation against police brutality, racism and disenfranchisement, it’s no surprise that statues of historical figures with ugly pasts are coming down. But the toppling, and sometimes beheading, of these statues is not just the result of mob-madness. Most of these statues have something in common, and this common thread involves a history of sordid, and often heinous acts of violence and oppression. In my home state of New Mexico, for example, several weeks ago protesters in front of the Albuquerque Art Museum demanded that the statue of the Spanish conquistador Juan Onate be removed, they wanted to pull it down. Unfortunately, the protest also attracted armed militants who wanted to protect the statue, ending in a protester being shot and critically injured. Our governor and the Albuquerque mayor condemned the shooting, and the mayor had the city remove the statue to prevent further public conflict and potential damage. Also earlier this month, to the north near Alcalde, the statue of Juan Onate was also removed, and at one time, the statue was missing his right foot.
So why would protesters want to remove Onate’s statue? Well, as with the statues of Edward Colston, Christopher Columbus, and Williams Carter Wickham, Onate had a checkered past. He first came to the American Southwest in the 1500s, and established the colony of New Mexico for Spain, and became it’s first governor. Onate’s greatest sin was the Acoma Massacre of 1599. At this time, Spain was bent on colonizing the pueblos, and although relations between the Spanish and the people of Acoma were mostly peaceful since 1540, it all fell apart on January 21st, 1599. The Acoma leader, Zutacapan, learned that the Spanish intended to colonize the pueblo, and he suggested a meeting to work out a peaceful compromise with Spain. Camped out at San Juan Pueblo, Onate sent his nephew, Juan de Zaldivar, to Acoma to meet with Zutacapan. When Onate’s nephew arrived on December 4, 1598, he took a column of 15 men up to the mesa, and they promptly demanded that the residents provide them with food. The people of Acoma rejected their request, and things went south immediately: Zaldivar’s men assaulted some of the Acoma women, and the people of Acoma retaliated by killing Zaldivar and all of his men.
Onate was probably incensed and out for revenge, so he ordered the slain Zaldivar’s brother, Vicente, to mount an expedition to the pueblo. Vicente and 70 men descended on Acoma Pueblo on that wintry day, and two days later, many buildings were burned, and of the estimated 6,000 people living there, hundreds of men, women and children were slaughtered. Some 500+ prisoners were taken and sentenced to a life of servitude. Onate ordered that every Acoma male over 25 would have his right foot cut off and enslaved for 20 years, that all men and women over the age of 12 were to be given as slaves among the various houses of government officials, missions and convents. Records also mention that two Hopi men were taken prisoner, their hands cut off, and released to spread the word of Spain’s might. Onate did, however, receive some judgment for his cruelty. When King Phillip of Spain heard of the massacre, he banished Onate from New Mexico, and Onate was forced to return to Spain where he died of natural causes. The pueblo survivors of the massacre who managed to escape, later returned to Acoma, and eventually rebuilt their town atop the mesa. Onate was considered an explorer, an adventurer, and like Columbus, had a place in history as a man who sought to colonize the New World for the monarchs of Europe. However, we can’t ignore the fact that these two men did infact commit atrocities in the name of colonization and imperialism.
Then there’s the question of the Confederate statues, such as the one of Albert Pike, senior officer of the Confederate States Army, which stood in the Judiciary Square neighborhood of DC. Pike’s statue was toppled and burned on June 19th (Juneteenth). Crews in Charleston removed a statue of John C. Calhoun, known defender of slavery, from its pedestal in Marion Square on June 24. On June 10, a crowd of protesters in Richmond brought down the statue of Jefferson Davis, president of the Confederacy. In Raleigh NC, two statues from the North Carolina Confederate monument that had stood at the state capitol were removed on June 19. In Jacksonville FL, crews in Hemming Park took down a 122-year-old statue and plaque honoring fallen Confederate soldiers on June 9, and another Jefferson Davis statue that stood in the Kentucky Capitol rotunda was removed by the local government on June 13.
Why target Confederate monuments? These statues and monuments have been the subject of debate for years, and it’s no secret that many of the monuments and statues of Confederate personalities, especially in the south, were constructed during the Jim Crow era in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The Jim Crow era movement was grounded in the disenfranchisement of African Americans, and the perpetuation of white supremacy. The murder of George Floyd has been a catalyst, and it’s tragic that our nation had to be awakened from it’s blind slumber and denial of racism by the senseless death of a black man. As people take to the streets, and as local and state governments remove statues and memorials dedicated to conquerors, slave owners, racists and quislings, I say it’s about time.
In 2017, VP Pence said that he opposed the removal of statues of Confederate leaders because in doing so, we are erasing our cultural heritage and history. But most of our historical knowledge doesn’t come from statues or monuments. Our knowledge comes from documents, peer-reviewed books and articles, eye-witness accounts, journals, objects and other artifacts preserved in museums and libraries. And all of this information is readily available and free to the public in the form of podcasts, documentaries, blogs and other online publications. Statues can act as reminders of our culture and history, but they also are symbols that portray perceptions and ideas, no matter how abstract. When protesters and local governments tear down statues of conquerors, racists and murderers, it’s not erasing history, it’s opening our eyes and facing up to the fact that human history is not all that rosy. For example, the Civil War was about slavery, about the subjugation of a targeted group, and statues dedicated to Confederate generals and personalities are symbols of that oppression and inequality.
Statues of Confederate leaders, Spanish Conquistadors, British slave traders and French statesmen who represent oppression, cruelty and the subjugation of a particular group of people don’t belong in public spaces. True, they represent history, but they also honor such figures who certainly don’t deserve it. Statues should rather reflect what is good about humanity, not engender feelings of division, oppression, anger or sadness.
I say, yes, take the statues down, and replace them with representations of individuals and groups that show the goodness of humanity. Replace these figures with statues that celebrate the ideas of generosity, virtue, dignity, empathy, diversity and justice.
Sources
1. https://www.startribune.com/removing-statues-is-not-erasing-history/571216862/.
2. https://www.al.com/opinion/2020/06/removing-statues-isnt-about-erasing-history.html.
4. https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/us/confederate-statues-removed-george-floyd-trnd/index.html.