Business 68 – California To Take Down Christopher Columbus Statue From State Capitol

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Script

1. TOPLINE

California will remove a statue of Christopher Columbus from its state capitol building in Sacramento, as lawmakers in cities across the country reconsider monuments celebrating controversial historical figures in the wake of Black Lives Matter protests calling attention to past atrocities.

2. KEY FACTS

Lawmakers said they are removing the statue because of Columbus’ “deadly impact” on indigenous populations.

It is unclear when the statue will be taken down or where it will go afterward.

The statue, called “Columbus’ Last Appeal to Queen Isabella,” sits in the middle of the capitol building rotunda, and has been inside the statehouse since 1883, when a wealthy banker gifted it to the state, according to the California State Capitol Museum.

3. California has already changed Columbus Day to Indigenous Peoples’ Day, saying in 2019 that the state shouldn’t be “commemorating conquest.”

California’s response differs from New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, who said New York City’s own Columbus statue shouldn’t be removed because of its importance to Italian-Americans.

4. CRUCIAL QUOTE

“Christopher Columbus is a deeply polarizing historical figure given the deadly impact his arrival in this hemisphere had on indigenous populations. The continued presence of his statue in California’s Capitol, where it has been since 1883, is completely out of place today,” leaders of the State Legislature said in a joint statement.

5. NEWS PEG

Demonstrators across the U.S. have vandalized, physically taken down and called for the removal of both Columbus statues and Confederate memorials during protests calling for racial justice following the death of George Floyd.

6. Nearly every facet of society is dealing with its own reckoning on race and several major cities, including Boston and Philadelphia, are mulling whether their own Columbus statues should remain displayed. Others, such as Detroit and St. Louis, have already taken theirs down in response to protests.