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       #Post#: 9393--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Statue decolonization
   DIR By: 90sRetroFan
       Date: October 14, 2021, 9:29 pm
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  HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=53VWhbr5Lxc
       A good start, but hopefully this can be expanded into a campaign
       to eventually remove actual colonialist statues in Hong Kong
       also.
       #Post#: 9407--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Statue decolonization
   DIR By: 90sRetroFan
       Date: October 15, 2021, 10:23 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Promises by Westerners mean nothing:
  HTML https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/oct/11/oxford-college-installs-plaque-calling-cecil-rhodes-a-committed-colonialist
       --- Quote ---
       > An Oxford college has installed a plaque next to a statue of
       the mining magnate and politician Cecil Rhodes, describing him
       as “committed British colonialist” who exploited the “peoples of
       southern Africa”.
       > ...
       > The University of Oxford angered campaigners in May by
       backtracking on its previous decision to remove the statue,
       ignoring the views of an independent commission.
       >
       > The explanatory plaque says Rhodes was a “committed British
       colonialist” who “obtained his fortune through exploitation of
       minerals, land and peoples of southern Africa. Some of his
       activities led to great loss of life and attracted criticism in
       his day and ever since.”
       > ...
       > “We can’t take down absolutely everything that connects us to
       colonialism,” said the woman, who asked to be referred to as
       Rosie. “Are we going to take all the banking system down, all
       the things that made this country?”
       --- End Quote ---
       Actually, we have aimed to take down the Western banking system
       from the beginning.
       --- Quote ---
       > An 18-year-old woman who gave her name as Oliver, from
       Denmark, said the plaque seemed to be an attempt to reach a
       middle ground. “But the middle ground is more about working
       around some people’s egos … it [the statement] feels like
       something I would read in a GCSE textbook.”
       >
       > “I certainly don’t think it’s too much,” said a young
       passerby, responding to academic complaints that the plaque had
       gone too far down the road of vilifying Rhodes. He said: “I
       think for some people it probably won’t be enough, because if
       you don’t want to walk past [the statue] every day, you are
       still not going to want to walk past it.”
       --- End Quote ---
       Exactly.
       The following is not a bad idea, however:
  HTML https://www.theguardian.com/education/2021/may/29/rhodes-statue-should-be-turned-to-face-wall-says-antony-gormley
       --- Quote ---
       > Sculptor suggests solution to row over keeping statue of
       colonialist in place at Oriel College
       >
       > The statue of Cecil Rhodes at Oriel College, Oxford, should be
       turned to face the wall in shame, the sculptor Antony Gormley
       has proposed.
       >
       > Gormley’s suggestion, made in an interview with the Financial
       Times, would be an innovative solution to a years-long battle
       over whether the 19th-century colonialist and white supremacist
       should remain in pride of place at the university.
       >
       > It comes after Oriel decided to retain the statue, despite the
       findings of an independent commission that backed its removal.
       >
       > Gormley said the statue should stay, the FT reported. But he
       added: “If we need to readdress our relationship to him, I would
       just simply turn him to face the wall rather than facing
       outwards.”
       >
       > Turning Rhodes to face the wall would be “an acknowledgment of
       collective shame” that would also “reassert the fact that Oriel
       College and many institutions have property from Rhodes’s
       riches”, the FT quoted Gormley as saying.
       --- End Quote ---
       The statue:
       [img]
  HTML https://i.guim.co.uk/img/media/8139b8a6dd139b33be1f9bb056b1860996a6782a/0_411_7360_4414/master/7360.jpg?width=465&quality=45&auto=format&fit=max&dpr=2&s=68b1cef04d1e6d3bbf636c12586c58d8[/img]
       #Post#: 9553--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Statue decolonization
   DIR By: 90sRetroFan
       Date: October 24, 2021, 10:13 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       I support this idea:
  HTML https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-21/museum-proposes-melting-lee-statue-to-make-new-artwork
       --- Quote ---
       > “Recontextualization is not enough,” the museum said in the
       proposal, stressing that wherever the statue goes, it would
       remain “an icon of violent white supremacy.”
       --- End Quote ---
       #Post#: 9589--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Statue decolonization
   DIR By: 90sRetroFan
       Date: October 28, 2021, 12:55 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
  HTML https://www.yahoo.com/news/pacific-islanders-rally-racist-statue-165904640.html
       --- Quote ---
       > Carrying signs and chanting in Spokane, Wash., about 40
       Pacific Islanders and allies protested the statue of a
       19th-century U.S. Navy sailor.
       >
       > The rally: The protesters marched through downtown Spokane on
       Oct. 16. demanding City Council members take down a statue of
       John R. Monaghan.
       > ...
       > Historical significance: According to CAC Community Outreach,
       the statue of Monaghan was erected in 1906.
       >
       > “Although most who pass by the statue are unlikely to know who
       Monaghan was, or what battle he fought in, it is known around
       the world to the Pacific Islander community as a devastating
       reminder of the thousands of innocent men, women, and children
       whom were brutally murdered,” CAC Community Outreach wrote in
       the petition. "It stands as a monument to the unprovoked,
       antagonistic, colonial attacks by the United States on
       Sāmoa and Sāmoan civilians, and to the racist
       perceptions that Americans had of them at that time. The impacts
       have been deep and lasting."
       >
       > “But the racist and ignorant perceptions that went virtually
       unquestioned during that era should not be allowed to represent
       Spokane today, 115 years later,” they continued. “We must not
       continue to pay homage to unjust wars, people who carry them
       out, and racist, colonial beliefs that lead to them.”
       --- End Quote ---
       If the government refuses, just pull it down yourselves!
       #Post#: 10041--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Statue decolonization
   DIR By: 90sRetroFan
       Date: December 8, 2021, 1:27 am
       ---------------------------------------------------------
  HTML https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFtTEl3DnG0
       #Post#: 10141--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Statue decolonization
   DIR By: Zea_mays
       Date: December 16, 2021, 8:12 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       During the Civil War, General Robert E. Lee's estate was seized
       and used as a cemetery:
       --- Quote ---
       > In June 1862, the 37th United States Congress enacted
       legislation that imposed a property tax on all land in
       "insurrectionary" areas of the United States.[19] The 1863
       amendments to the statute required these taxes to be paid in
       person.[16][20] But Mary Lee, afflicted with severe rheumatoid
       arthritis and behind Confederate lines, could not pay the tax in
       person.[20] The Arlington estate was seized for nonpayment of
       taxes. It was auctioned off on January 11, 1864, and the U.S.
       government won the property for $26,800 ($453,095 today).
       > [...]
       > By early 1864, the military cemeteries of Washington, D.C.,
       and Alexandria, Virginia, were rapidly filling with war dead.
       Quartermaster General of the United States Army Montgomery C.
       Meigs proposed using 200 acres (81 ha) of the Arlington estate
       as a cemetery.[13] United States Secretary of War Edwin M.
       Stanton approved the establishment of a military cemetery on
       June 15, 1864, creating Arlington National Cemetery.[16][23]
       Meigs believed that since Lee had committed treason in deciding
       to fight against the Union,[24] denying Lee use of the mansion
       after the war was a rough form of justice.[25] Meigs decided
       that a large number of burials should occur close to Arlington
       House to render it unlivable. Officers were to be buried next to
       the main flower garden south of the house, and the first burial
       occurred here on May 17.[26] Meigs ordered that additional
       burials commence immediately on the grounds of Arlington House
       in mid-June.[26] When Union officers bivouacked in the mansion
       complained and had the burials temporarily stopped, Meigs
       countermanded their orders and had another 44 dead officers
       buried along the southern and eastern sides of the main flower
       garden within a month.[26]
       --- End Quote ---
  HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington_House,_The_Robert_E._Lee_Memorial
       --- Quote ---
       > Beginning in 1863, the federal government used the southern
       portion of the land now occupied by the cemetery as a settlement
       for freed slaves, giving the name of "Freedman's Village" to the
       land. The government constructed rental houses that 1,100 to
       3,000 freed slaves eventually occupied while farming 1,100 acres
       (450 ha) of the estate and receiving schooling and occupational
       training during the Civil War and after War ended.[25]
       --- End Quote ---
  HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arlington_National_Cemetery#Freedman's_Village
       #Post#: 10412--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Statue decolonization
   DIR By: 90sRetroFan
       Date: January 5, 2022, 8:24 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       We are winning the culture war:
  HTML https://news.sky.com/story/edward-colston-statue-four-protesters-found-not-guilty-of-criminal-damage-after-toppling-monument-of-slave-trader-12509488
       --- Quote ---
       > Four protesters have been found not guilty of causing criminal
       damage after toppling of the statue of slave trader Edward
       Colston in Bristol during a Black Lives Matter protest.
       > ...
       > In closing speeches, defence barristers had argued that the
       Colston statue - erected in 1895 - had become inappropriate and
       offensive and that over the years, thousands had signed
       petitions to have it removed.
       >
       > Liam Walker QC, representing Sage Willoughby, had told the
       jury their decision would reverberate around the world:
       > Advertisement
       >
       > "Make no mistake members of the jury, your decision is not
       just going to be felt in this courtroom or this city," he said.
       "I urge you all to be on the right side of history."
       >
       > Tom Wainwright, representing Milo Ponsford, told the court:
       "If you have a cancer like Colston festering in your city, you
       cut it out. Only once it's gone that the body can heal."
       --- End Quote ---
       Yes! There is also a cancer festering on the planet. It is
       called Western civilization.
       #Post#: 10827--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Statue decolonization
   DIR By: 90sRetroFan
       Date: January 25, 2022, 8:04 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       What I like to see:
  HTML https://news.sky.com/story/juan-ponce-de-leon-statue-of-spanish-explorer-toppled-in-puerto-rico-hours-before-kings-visit-12524459
       [img width=1280
       height=720]
  HTML https://e3.365dm.com/22/01/2048x1152/skynews-juan-ponce-de-leon_5651285.jpg?bypass-service-worker&20220124153515[/img]
       --- Quote ---
       > A statue of a Spanish explorer in Puerto Rico has been toppled
       hours before a visit by the King of Spain to the US Caribbean
       territory.
       >
       > Juan Ponce de Leon, who landed on the island with Christopher
       Columbus in 1493, ruled the territory as its first governor.
       >
       > He put down a rebellion by the native Tainos, a subgroup of
       the Arawak Indians.
       > ...
       > The incident occurred just hours before Spain's King Felipe VI
       was due to meet Puerto Rico governor Pedro Pierluisi and other
       officials to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the founding of
       San Juan.
       >
       > Two years ago, activists marched through the streets of Old
       San Juan in support of a US movement to eradicate symbols of
       oppression and demanded that Spain's legacy in Puerto Rico be
       erased.
       --- End Quote ---
       Yes! Being American means being the enemy of all Western
       colonial powers.
       About Ponce de Leon:
  HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Juan_Ponce_de_Le%C3%B3n
       --- Quote ---
       > In 1502 the newly appointed governor, Nicolás de Ovando,
       arrived in Hispaniola. The Spanish Crown expected Ovando to
       bring order to a colony in disarray.[16][21] Ovando interpreted
       this as authorizing subjugation of the native Taínos. Thus,
       Ovando authorized the Jaragua massacre in November 1503. In
       1504, when Tainos overran a small Spanish garrison in Higüey on
       the island's eastern side, Ovando assigned Ponce de León to
       crush the rebellion.[21]
       >
       > Ponce de León was actively involved in the Higüey massacre,
       about which friar Bartolomé de las Casas attempted to notify
       Spanish authorities. Ovando rewarded his victorious commander by
       appointing him frontier governor of the newly conquered
       province, then named Higüey also.
       > ...
       > In 1508 King Ferdinand ... authorized Ponce de León to conquer
       the remaining Taínos and exploit them in gold mining.[23]
       > ...
       > Ponce de León parceled out the native Taínos amongst himself
       and other settlers using a system of forced labor known as
       encomienda.[32] The Indians were put to work growing food crops
       and mining for gold. Many of the Spaniards treated the Taínos
       very harshly and death rates were very high. The demand for
       slaves kidnapped from other islands grew. By June 1511 the
       Taínos were pushed to a short-lived rebellion, which was
       forcibly put down by Ponce de León and a small force of troops
       armed with crossbows and arquebuses.[33][34]
       > ...
       > On 14 June they set sail again looking for a chain of islands
       in the west that had been described by their captives. They
       reached the Dry Tortugas on 21 June.[21] There they captured
       giant sea turtles, Caribbean monk seals, and thousands of
       seabirds.
       > ...
       > Ponce de León was also ordered to organize an armada for the
       purpose of attacking and subduing the Caribs, who continued to
       attack Spanish settlements in the Caribbean.[78]
       >
       > Three ships were purchased for his armada and after repairs
       and provisioning Ponce de León left Spain on 14 May, 1515 with
       his little fleet. The record of his activities against the
       Caribs is vague. There was one engagement in Guadeloupe on his
       return to the area and possibly two or three other
       encounters.[79] The campaign came to an abrupt end in 1516 when
       Ferdinand died.
       --- End Quote ---
       Remember, all of the above could have been prevented if only
       Spain had remained Andalus. This is why America should always
       side with the Islamic world against any Western country.
       #Post#: 10843--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Statue decolonization
   DIR By: 90sRetroFan
       Date: January 26, 2022, 8:41 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
  HTML https://www.theage.com.au/national/victoria/st-kilda-s-captain-cook-statue-doused-in-red-paint-in-australia-day-protest-20220126-p59r9l.html
       --- Quote ---
       > A Melbourne monument depicting Captain James Cook was doused
       in red paint overnight as part of an Australia Day protest.
       >
       > The statue, located near St Kilda beach, was defaced and its
       base was papered with flyers proposing the abolition of
       Australia Day celebrations. The vandalism attracted a small
       group of curious locals to Catani Gardens on Wednesday morning
       before the paint was hosed off by council workers.
       > ...
       > It is not the first time the statue has been defaced. Vandals
       poured pink paint over the monument on the eve of Australia Day
       in 2018, scribbling the words “no pride” beneath Captain Cook’s
       feet along with the Aboriginal flag.
       >
       > A similar memorial at Edinburgh Gardens in Fitzroy North was
       also reportedly defaced, but a caller to 3AW said he cleaned the
       “thick red paint” off early Wednesday morning.
       >
       > That statue was covered with graffiti in 2020. The words
       “destroy white supremacy” and “remove this” were scrawled on the
       monument’s stone and bitumen in front of it.
       >
       > The discovery came on the same day a statue of Captain Cook in
       Sydney was defaced, and a day after busts of former prime
       ministers Tony Abbott and John Howard were vandalised in
       Ballarat.
       --- End Quote ---
       If the government will not take down the statues, we must take
       them down ourselves.
       --- Quote ---
       > In Victoria, a Gippsland council voted against removing two
       monuments honouring Scottish explorer and pastoralist Angus
       McMillan, who was linked to the massacre of Indigenous people in
       the area.
       >
       > The motion, put forward by councillor Carolyn Crossley, was
       responding to demands around the world for the removal of
       monuments to oppressors as part of the Black Lives Matter
       movement.
       >
       > The proposal to remove the monument was backed by Gunaikurnai
       Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation chair Troy McDonald, who
       said the cairn dedicated to McMillan represented the celebration
       of a man arriving on Aboriginal land and committing genocide.
       --- End Quote ---
       McMillan thought it was OK to be "white". Those who want to keep
       his monuments up are agreeing with him.
       #Post#: 11117--------------------------------------------------
       Re: Statue decolonization
   DIR By: 90sRetroFan
       Date: February 7, 2022, 8:28 pm
       ---------------------------------------------------------
       Another one down!
  HTML https://www.usnews.com/news/politics/articles/2022-02-03/statue-of-racist-ex-gov-bilbo-quietly-moved-in-mississippi
       --- Quote ---
       > JACKSON, Miss. (AP) — A statue of white supremacist former
       Mississippi Gov. Theodore Bilbo has quietly been moved out of
       sight in the state Capitol — a move praised by Black lawmakers
       who say he never deserved a place of prominence.
       > ...
       > Democratic Rep. Kabir Karriem, a member of the Legislative
       Black Caucus, said its lingering presence was “very offensive"
       in a state where nearly 40% of residents are Black.
       > ...
       > Another member of the Mississippi Legislative Black Caucus,
       Democratic Rep. Ed Blackmon of Canton, said that when he was
       first elected to the House in 1979, the Bilbo statue was still
       in the rotunda.
       >
       > “That’s the first person I met when I came to the Capitol,”
       Blackmon said Thursday. “I said, ‘My God. Bilbo.’”
       >
       > During Bilbo's last campaign in 1946, a group of Black
       Mississippi residents filed a petition with the U.S. Senate,
       saying Bilbo had used “inflammatory appeals" to white people and
       incited violence that discouraged Black voters from
       participating in the Democratic primary, according to the U.S.
       Senate.
       --- End Quote ---
       About Bilbo:
  HTML https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_G._Bilbo
       --- Quote ---
       > Bilbo proposed an amendment to the federal work-relief bill on
       June 6, 1938, which would have deported twelve million black
       Americans to Liberia at federal expense to relieve
       unemployment.[37]
       > ...
       > The Democrats assigned Bilbo to what was considered the least
       important Senate committee, one on governance of the District of
       Columbia, to try to limit his influence. Bilbo, however, used
       his position to advance his white supremacist views. Bilbo was
       against giving any vote to district residents, especially as the
       district's black population was increasing because of the Great
       Migration.
       > ...
       > Bilbo revealed his membership in the Ku Klux Klan in an
       interview on the radio program Meet the Press. He said:
       >
       > No man can leave the Klan. He takes an oath not to do that.
       Once a Ku Klux, always a Ku Klux.[42]
       >
       > He was a prominent participant in the lengthy southern
       Democratic filibuster of the Costigan-Wagner anti-lynching bill
       before the Senate in 1938.
       > ...
       > Bilbo was outspoken in saying that blacks should not be
       allowed to vote anywhere in the United States, regardless of the
       Fourteenth and Fifteenth amendments to the Constitution.
       > ...
       > In 1946, he wrote to General MacArthur, head of the Allied
       occupation of Japan, that the Japanese should "all be
       sterilized."[44]
       >
       > During the 1946 Democratic Senate primary in Mississippi, his
       last race, Bilbo was the subject of a series of attacks by
       journalist Hodding Carter, Jr., in his paper, the Greenville
       Delta Democrat-Times. Dismayed that the Supreme Court had ruled
       that white primaries were unconstitutional, he urged his white
       supporters to prevent black citizens from voting. At least half
       of all black citizens were prevented from voting in the primary
       due to threats of violence.[45]
       --- End Quote ---
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