Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Monuments and Statues Are Falling, but What Comes Next?
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 5 years ago on
July 8, 2020

Share

TIERRA AMARILLA, N.M. — The dusty town of Tierra Amarilla perches in the shadows of the Sangre de Cristo Mountains. Here, five decades ago, this poor northern New Mexico community saw one of the most violent clashes in civil rights history when armed Mexican American ranchers raided a courthouse in a dispute over land grants. It shocked the nation and helped trigger the Chicano Movement.

As monuments and statues fall across the United States, activists and towns are left wondering what to do with empty spaces that once honored historic figures tied to Confederate generals and Spanish conquistadors. They also are debating how to remember civil rights figures and events in areas where they have been forgotten.
Today, there’s almost nothing in town to honor this historic moment, except for graffiti art on an abandoned gas station and a sentence on a marker. There’s also almost no public art about the event anywhere.
As monuments and statues fall across the United States, activists and towns are left wondering what to do with empty spaces that once honored historic figures tied to Confederate generals and Spanish conquistadors. They also are debating how to remember civil rights figures and events in areas where they have been forgotten.
The opportunity to reimagine spaces has created a debate: whose history should the U.S. now honor and why? Should anything go on those empty podiums at all?
Some advocates say monuments to the late U.S. Rep. Barbara Jordan or Mexican American civil rights leader Dolores Huerta should replace the fallen statues. Others say World War II Marine Sgt. Miguel Trujillo Sr., a member of the Isleta Pueblo who sued to get Native Americans the right to vote in New Mexico, or former slave-turned-abolitionist Olaudah Equiano should have monuments erected in their honor. Christy Symington, a London-based sculptor, has already created an image of Equiano that some advocates say should be replicated in now empty spaces.
“I almost think the pedestals just need to be left there (empty),” said Rev. Rob W. Lee, a senior pastor of Unifour Church in Newton, North Carolina, and a descendant of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, who now speaks out against Confederate monuments.
Lee said he sees the toppling of Confederate statues with Black Lives Matter graffiti as a move to reclaim Black lives from white supremacy. “I think it’s quite beautiful,” Lee said. “Leave it like that.”

On Saturday, Protesters in Baltimore Pulled Down a Statue of Christopher Columbus

Brett Chapman, a Tulsa, Oklahoma, attorney and descendant of Standing Bear, a Ponca chief and civil rights leader, said he’d like to see the fallen statues replaced by largely unknown social justice advocates. “There are so many people we can honor that will show how we’ve overcome oppression,” Chapman said. “It’ll be a chance for us to learn and reflect.”
On Saturday, protesters in Baltimore pulled down a statue of Christopher Columbus and threw it into the city’s Inner Harbor. That followed other episodes of Confederate and Spanish colonial statues getting toppled last month by demonstrators or after officials ordered their removal.
It’s also led to statues of Presidents George Washington and Ulysses S. Grant getting vandalized.
That has given some supporters of anti-racism protests pause. Cultural critic Thomas Chatterton Williams, the author of “Self-Portrait in Black and White,” said he understood the need to remove Confederate monuments but is uncomfortable with the vandalism of statues honoring the Founding Fathers and American Union Civil War figures.
“Mobs in the street tearing down Ulysses S. Grant statues is a really chilling sight,” Williams said. “We should understand the context (of history). But erasing these men from the public sphere seems like a bad road to go down to me.”
Vanessa Fonseca-Chávez, an assistant English professor at Arizona State University and author of the upcoming book “Colonial Legacies in Chicana/o Literature and Culture: Looking Through the Kaleidoscope,” said she can see the spaces honoring people who are not famous.
“What about the people who are living and breathing right now who made this place what it is today?” Fonseca-Chávez said. “Not a famous person. Just who we are. I think that could go a long way.”

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

What Are Fresno Real Estate Experts Predicting for 2025 and Beyond?

DON'T MISS

First California EV Mandates Hit Automakers This Year. Most Are Not Even Close

DON'T MISS

Fresno Air Improves. Where Does It Rank in the US?

DON'T MISS

As Harris Ponders Run for CA Governor, Is She Prepared for the Daunting Job?

DON'T MISS

Stocks Rise With Tech-Related Shares, Notch Weekly Gains; Dollar Up

DON'T MISS

Conflicting US-China Talks Statements Add to Global Trade Confusion

DON'T MISS

Driving Near the Fresno Airport Next Week? Plan for Road Closures

DON'T MISS

Misty Her: Push for Fresno Unified Turnaround Starts Now With ‘Boots on the Ground’

DON'T MISS

Fresno Police Arrest 17 in Domestic Violence Crackdown

DON'T MISS

What’s Next for Fresno Smoke Shop Ordinance: Lawsuit, Veto, Override?

DON'T MISS

Visalia Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for 2019 Fatal Stabbing

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Arrested in 2004 Cold Case Rape and Murder

UP NEXT

Exclusive: US Congress Republicans Seek $27 Billion for Golden Dome in Trump Tax Bill

UP NEXT

On Major Economic Decisions, Trump Blinks, and Then Blinks Again

UP NEXT

Chicago Bears Great Steve McMichael Dies at 67 After Battle With ALS

UP NEXT

Long Wait Is Over for Cam Ward, Travis Hunter and Other Draft Prospects Joining the NFL

UP NEXT

Golden State’s Jimmy Butler Injured in Game 2 Loss, His Status for Game 3 Unknown

UP NEXT

Jalen Green Makes Eight 3s to Help Rockets Even Series With Warriors

UP NEXT

US Justice Department Directs Investigations Over Gender-Affirming Care

UP NEXT

US Justice Department Cancels Hundreds of Grants for Police, Crime Victims

UP NEXT

Yelich’s 5th Career Slam and Bauers’ 2-Run Homer Power the Brewers to Win Over the Giants

UP NEXT

Happ Hits Game-Ending Single in the 10th as the Cubs Rally Past Dodgers

Conflicting US-China Talks Statements Add to Global Trade Confusion

1 hour ago

Driving Near the Fresno Airport Next Week? Plan for Road Closures

1 hour ago

Misty Her: Push for Fresno Unified Turnaround Starts Now With ‘Boots on the Ground’

2 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest 17 in Domestic Violence Crackdown

2 hours ago

What’s Next for Fresno Smoke Shop Ordinance: Lawsuit, Veto, Override?

3 hours ago

Visalia Man Sentenced to Life in Prison for 2019 Fatal Stabbing

4 hours ago

Fresno Man Arrested in 2004 Cold Case Rape and Murder

5 hours ago

Valley Crime Stoppers’ Most Wanted Person of the Day: Willie Ray Butler

5 hours ago

California’s Economy Ranks Fourth Worldwide, Surpasses Japan

5 hours ago

Fresno County Traffic Stop Leads to $600K Cocaine Bust

5 hours ago

Fresno Air Improves. Where Does It Rank in the US?

The San Joaquin Valley is making progress in the fight against air pollution, achieving a historic milestone in meeting federal standards fo...

7 minutes ago

7 minutes ago

Fresno Air Improves. Where Does It Rank in the US?

32 minutes ago

As Harris Ponders Run for CA Governor, Is She Prepared for the Daunting Job?

1 hour ago

Stocks Rise With Tech-Related Shares, Notch Weekly Gains; Dollar Up

A drone view shows containers at the terminals at the port in Kwai Chung in Hong Kong, China, April 3, 2025. (REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo)
1 hour ago

Conflicting US-China Talks Statements Add to Global Trade Confusion

1 hour ago

Driving Near the Fresno Airport Next Week? Plan for Road Closures

2 hours ago

Misty Her: Push for Fresno Unified Turnaround Starts Now With ‘Boots on the Ground’

Fresno police are seeking two suspects who stole several boxes of shoes from the WSS store on East Cesar Chavez Boulevard on February 20, 2025.
2 hours ago

Fresno Police Arrest 17 in Domestic Violence Crackdown

3 hours ago

What’s Next for Fresno Smoke Shop Ordinance: Lawsuit, Veto, Override?

Help continue the work that gets you the news that matters most.

Search

Send this to a friend