Statue Mania Comes to Minnesota

Statue Mania Comes to Minnesota

Power Line - Saturday September 9, 2017

by John Hinderaker

(John Hinderaker) 

One might think that Minnesota would be one of the last places to pull down statues. The state joined the union just in time for the Civil War, in which its young men fought heroically in the anti-slavery cause. But when Leftists get going, they never know when to stop. The Star Tribune reports on an effort to cart away a statue of Christopher Columbus and replace him with…Prince Nelson:

A few thousand Minnesotans — and counting — have signed a petition to replace a Christopher Columbus statue at the State Capitol with royalty.

Progressive activist Wintana Melekin started the petition Aug. 27. “Rather than glorify a man who wanted to extinguish black and native peoples, we should honor members of our community whose leadership we find inspirational,” she wrote.

I don’t think Columbus wanted to “extinguish” any peoples, but where does the “black” reference come from? Columbus never made landfall in Africa.

The petition, which has now been signed by 5,000 people, is here:

Across the nation, city governments are choosing to remove statues of white supremacists, slave owners, and those who threatened the livelihood of Black people. Here in Minnesota, communities are reigniting the demand to bring down state’s monument to Christopher Columbus, a man who murdered, raped and enslaved Black and Native peoples in the Americas.

There were no “Black peoples” in the Americas when Columbus was here. The petition concludes:

Prince represents Minnesota values and Columbus does not.

The petition’s drafters categorized it under the tags “Confederate symbols” and “pop culture.” 15th-Century explorers, Confederates, who’s quibbling?

When all is said and done, though, it probably is true that Prince, who died of a drug overdose, better represents Minnesota’s 21st-Century values than the most intrepid explorer in the history of the world.

  

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