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The democrats removed a marble statue that shows Christopher Columbus asking for funding to queen Isabel the Catholic for his trip to America which was at Capitol of California , seat of the legislature of that state, from 1883. In this way, it opens up a political front against the historical memory not only on the streets, but also within the institutions and public buildings.
There are around US hundreds of statues dedicated to Columbus, and other, less, Isabella , for his role in the first transatlantic voyage in recorded history. There are dozens of neighborhoods, towns and cities across the country, north and south, dedicated to christopher Columbus, with names like Columbus or Columbia, including the federal district of Washington, the capital, on which are based the legislative and executive power of the nation.
After more than three weeks of protests racial by the death in police custody of a black man , the protesters waged first against the statues of generals and political confederates, who were up in arms to defend slavery in the NINETEENTH century, and later against Columbus and the Spanish legacy in the U.S., including the sculptures of conquistadors in the west.
The democratic leaders in congress california agreed Tuesday to remove the statue that is inside the Capitol building, claiming that “Columbus is a very controversial given the deadly effects that their arrival on the continent had on the indigenous peoples”. Announced his retirement the president pro-tempore of the Senate, california, Toni Atkins, and the president of the Chamber, Anthony Rendon, among others.
The statue that will be removed bears the title “Last appeal of Columbus to queen Isabella”, , and was carved in Carrara marble by the american sculptor Larkin Goldsmith Meade in his studio near Florence in 1868. It cost $ 30,000 of the time , which were made by banker Darius Ogden Mills. In a letter, the latter explained that he donated because it represented “a fact of enormous impact on the designs of the western world”.
Wave of indignation
In 2018, the city of Los Angeles, largest city in California, was the first to check out a statue of Columbus in a park, after protests by several activists representing native groups american minority . The wave of indignation against Columbus has arrived to the capital. A councillor, also a democrat, Kenvan R. McDuffie , last year proposed to change the name of the plaza of Columbus Circle from the city of Washington for being “racist”.
university of Notre Dame in Indiana , who is catholic, agreed last year to cover some rich murals of the NINETEENTH century because they were showing various scenes of the life of the navigator, and aroused protests from groups of students.
Just a democratic politician of national significance, California’s governor, Andrew Cuomo, has come out in defence of the sailor, on the grounds that, born in Genoa, represents the contributions of the Italian community to the forging of the U.S. In reality, the big wave of Italian immigrants (today there are 16 million) came to America in the NINETEENTH century. With Columbus actually began centuries of Spanish rule in north America, then lost.
The current Spanish embassy has kept a low profile in this wave of protests. In response to a question from ABC last week, a spokesperson said: “Respecting and sharing pain that feels the american people in these moments, we regret that there have been attacks on statues that represent the Spanish heritage in the US”.
This newspaper also asked for a direct assessment to the White House, which chose not to act, but the president Donald Trump has shared posts on the social network Twitter that are very critical to the removal of statues of california. A former deputy state of California, republican Roger Niello, has been the voice that most high-has been raised against the removal of the statues in that state, stating: “it Seems that from now on, if we don’t like our story, simply we delete it”.
