List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests
During the riots and peaceful protests that followed the killing of George Floyd in May 2020, a number of monuments and memorials were destroyed or removed, or commitments to remove them were announced. Most of the monuments in question were in the United States, but others were in the United Kingdom, Belgium, New Zealand, India and South Africa. Some had been the subject of lengthy, years-long efforts to remove them, sometimes involving legislation and/or court proceedings. In some cases the removal was legal and official; in others, most notably in Alabama and North Carolina, laws prohibiting the removal of monuments were deliberately broken.
Initially, activists targeted monuments to the Confederate States of America, its leaders and its military. As the scope of the protests broadened to include other forms of systemic racism, many statues of Christopher Columbus in the United States were removed, as he participated in abuses against Native Americans and his arrival in the Americas was the beginning of the genocide of Native American people. Statues of Junípero Serra and Juan de Oñate, also involved in mistreatment of Native Americans, were also torn down or removed. Many other local figures connected with racism were also the subject of protests and monument removals.
In the United Kingdom, removal efforts focused on memorials to figures involved in the Atlantic slave trade, British colonialism, and eugenics. In Belgium, sculptures of King Leopold II were targeted due to his rule during the atrocities in the Congo Free State. In New Zealand, a statue of a British military officer was removed, and in India another was relocated. In South Africa a bust of Cecil Rhodes was decapitated, and a statue of the last president of the Orange Free State was taken down.
Some pro-Union or anti-slavery monuments were targeted because the individuals commemorated also targeted Native Americans, or portrayed the enslaved in a way perceived as disrespectful. In one case, a statue of abolitionist Hans Christian Heg was torn down.
Some, including Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan, have compared the vandalism and destruction of monuments and memorials to the period of iconoclasm in the former Soviet Union, or the Cultural Revolution in the People's Republic of China. U.S. president Donald Trump denounced the statue removals as part of a "left-wing cultural revolution" to "wipe out our history" and proposed creating a sculpture garden of national heroes to be determined by the Protecting American Communities Task Force. Among the historical figures being considered for inclusion are Columbus, Douglass, Harriet Tubman and Booker T. Washington.
This list is limited to successful removals, and instances in which a person or body with authority has committed itself to removal. It does not include the many works that have been the subject of petitions, protests, defacement, or attempted removals, such as the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, D.C., and many statues of Leopold II in Belgium.
Sculptures and other monuments
The following monuments and memorials were removed during the George Floyd protests, mainly due to their connections to racism. The majority are in the United States and mostly commemorate the Confederate States of America, but some monuments were also removed in other countries, for example the statues of slave traders in the United Kingdom.Notes:
- The monument or memorial is scheduled to be removed but is still standing.
- Dates are in 2020 unless otherwise specified.
United States
In a few instances, like the Montgomery County Confederate Soldiers Monument and the Statue of John Mason, the monuments had already been moved from their original location, sometimes more than once, as different venues objected.
Confederate States of America
The CSA fought a four-year war to preserve the institution of slavery in the Southern states, before being defeated and seeing all enslaved African Americans become free, and then become citizens with the right to vote and hold office. Confederate monuments commemorate CSA politicians, Army officers, and soldiers. Most are in the former CSA states.There are 82 entries in this table, as of July 16. It does not include Virginia, which is in a second table that follows.
Virginia
, where the CSA had its capital in Richmond, has the most Confederate monuments of any U.S. state. A March 2020 change in the law of Virginia had already essentially repealed the statute preventing removal of historical monuments, effective from July 1, 2020. This change became possible when voters, after electing the Democrat Ralph Northam as Governor in 2017, gave the Democrats control of both houses of the Virginia General Assembly from January 2020, for the first time in a generation.Genocide of indigenous peoples
Monuments dedicated to individuals accused of involvement in the genocide of indigenous peoples in the Americas have been removed.Juan de Oñate, when governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, was responsible for the 1599 Acoma Massacre. Junípero Serra, a Franciscan friar, who was involved in enslaving Chumash people in the 18th century for the building and supplying of the Spanish missions in California. Diego de Vargas, also governor of Santa Fe de Nuevo México, led the reconquest of the territory in 1692, after the Pueblo Revolt of 1680.
A handful of towns in Spain have offered to receive statues of Spaniards unwanted in the U.S.
Christopher Columbus
Several statues of Christopher Columbus, the initiator of the European colonization of the Americas, have been removed because of his enslavement of and systemic violence against the indigenous peoples of the Caribbean, including the genocide of the Taíno people.Others
United Kingdom
Atlantic slave trade
The British Royal African Company, which engaged in African slave trading between 1662 and 1731, enslaved and shipped more Africans to the Americas than any other institution in the history of the Atlantic slave trade. Many wealthy British people were involved with this and other slaving companies.Others
Belgium
King Leopold II of Belgium personally ruled the Congo Free State from 1885 to 1908, treating it as his personal property. During this period, many well-documented atrocities were perpetrated against the population, including the severing of hands of workers unable to meet a production quota for rubber, and the destruction of entire villages that were unwilling to participate in the forced labour regime. These acts contributed to a significant population decline during this period, often estimated at between five million and ten million.New Zealand
officer John Fane Charles Hamilton, after whom the city of Hamilton is named, played a prominent part in the Tauranga campaign of the New Zealand Wars.India
Slovenia
South Africa
Removals under consideration
Some officials have announced their decisions to remove monuments under their jurisdiction, and are currently working to push through whatever legislative or permission barriers they need to accomplish their goals.- Alaska: Anchorage Mayor Ethan Berkowitz announced on June 24, 2020 that he will leave the decision about removal of the statue of James Cook in downtown Anchorage up to the Native Village of Eklutna and other area Denaʼina tribes.
- Florida: Protesters at Florida State University, Tallahassee, call for removal of the Eppes Statue, at the original entrance to the campus; he was a slaveowner who was influential in the founding of Florida State. The building of the College of Criminology and Criminal Justice is also named for him. Protestors are also calling for renaming of Doak Campbell Stadium.
- Louisiana: East Feliciana Parish Police Jury announced June 15, 2020 that they will revisit in two weeks the issue of a possible removal of a Confederate statue that sits outside their courthouse.
- Louisiana: City of Alexandria voted to have Confederate Monument in front of Rapides Parish Courthouse. However, there is an ongoing court case to determine who owns the statue: the City of Alexandria, Rapides Parish, or the UDC.
- Kentucky: Murray City Council passed a unanimous vote to remove the Confederate Monument of Robert E. Lee from in front of their courthouse. The County Attorney isn't sure if the county has authority to move the statue, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, and so is conducting further research. Public feedback is expected.
- Mississippi: Forrest County Supervisors passed a measure on June 15, 2020. In November, voters will decide about the removal of a Confederate monument in front of their courthouse.
- Ohio: Cincinnati city council member is making a motion to remove an equestrian statue of President William Henry Harrison from Piatt Park. June 14, 2020
- Texas: Weatherford: The United Daughters of the Confederacy asked for the removal of the United Confederate Veterans of Parker County monument in front of the Parker County Courthouse.
- Virginia: The city of Newport News has decided to remove a Confederate monument near Old Courthouse Way. They shrouded it to prevent vandalism and will petition the Department of Historic Resources after July 1, 2020 to allow removal. June 15, 2020
- Virginia: Virginia Beach City Council announced on June 12, 2020 that they covered and fenced the Confederate monument sitting at the Old Princess Anne County Courthouse until after July 1, 2020 when the city will have the authority to make decisions about the monument. A public hearing will be scheduled in July 2020.
- Washington, D.C.: In July the House voted to remove 11 Confederate statues and statues of three others - Charles Aycock, John C. Calhoun, and James Paul Clarke - from the United States Capitol. The statues are part of the National Statuary Hall Collection, a set of 100, with two supplied by each state. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said replacement decisions should be up to the individual states and the bill would need to pass the GOP-controlled Senate.
Other works of art