Christopher Columbus statue to be removed from California Capitol at direction of top Democrats
Top California lawmakers on Tuesday ordered the removal of a marble sculpture depicting explorer Christopher Columbus and his patron, Queen Isabella, from the Capitol Rotunda.
The statue has been in the Capitol for more than a century. Top lawmakers called for its removal a day after a statue showing white settler John Sutter was taken down in front of the Sacramento hospital that bears his name.
“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 this statue in California’s Capitol, where it has been since 1883, is completely out of place today,” the lawmakers said in a joint statement.
The statement was signed by Senate President Pro Tempore Toni Atkins, D-San Diego, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon, D-Lakewood, and Assembly Rules Committee Chairman Ken Cooley, D-Rancho Cordova.
The removal of the statue shows that Columbus “will no longer be glorified,” said Ida Rodriguez, a member of the Statewide Coalition Against Racist Symbols. Having Christopher Columbus in such a prominent part of the Capitol makes the explorer seem like a “savior,” she said — when, in fact, “that’s not who he is.”
At the end of the legislative session, Queen Isabella’s crown is a target for celebratory pennies. And to the baron who financed the statue in the late 1800s, it was a testament to Columbus’ visions of “marvelous lands beyond the setting sun.”
But what was once a symbol of Italian-American pride and Manifest Destiny is, to indigenous groups, a reminder of the cruelty and genocide their ancestors experienced as a result of Columbus’ voyages.
Even though the explorer never stepped foot in California, they say his tales of riches and exploitable natives sparked a centuries-long history of oppression and slavery.
A handful of demonstrators sat outside the Capitol Tuesday afternoon in an effort to bring attention to the statue and call for its removal. According to video reviewed on social media, a barricade had been set up around the building to prevent entry.
These latest demonstrations come as protests against racial inequality have swept Sacramento and the rest of the country in recent weeks, sparked in part by George Floyd’s death in Minneapolis police custody last month. Since then, statues of historical figures like Confederate generals have been taken down or removed by activists.
Sutter’s statue was defaced last Monday before workers craned it onto a waiting trailer a week later.
State Senator Henry Stern, D-Canoga Park, last weekend called for the Columbus statue to be removed. “This monument wore out its welcome as the centerpiece of our Capitol a long time ago,” he said late Tuesday.
“I hope we can make a space now to tell the truth about our history, to reconcile our past with our present, and allow the original Californians, our indigenous peoples, and other historically marginalized Californians, to erect a monument that truly represents a California for all,” he said.
According to UC Davis history professor Andres Resendez, Columbus knew about the lucrative slave trade from his time in Western Africa. When he arrived in what he considered to be the “New World,” the explorer quickly recognized the possibilities for enslaving the native populations he encountered. Yet Queen Isabella, who helped finance Columbus’s expeditions, became an early defender of Native Americans, he said.
Still, he added, “I do think we need to think about the kinds of symbols and figures that we look to celebrate and honor.”
