Statues of Columbus, other colonialists removed
In the wake of George Floyd’s death, California protesters and lawmakers are calling for the removal of statues of historical figures associated with racism and colonialism — an effort that gained momentum Tuesday when lawmakers announced a statue of Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain will be removed from the state Capitol, where it has stood since 1883.
- Senate President Pro Tem Toni Atkins, Assembly Speaker Anthony Rendon and Assembly Rules Committee Chair Ken Cooley, all Democrats: “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 … is completely out of place today.”
- Roger Niello, a former Republican assemblyman from Sacramento, told me: “My question is, where do you stop? … We’ve got to figure out some way of acknowledging our history in an appropriate way. … We’re trying to work that out right now with more of an emotional approach to current events rather than a logical assessment of our history, be it imperfect as it is.”
On Monday, a statue of John Sutter was taken down from outside a Sacramento hospital also bearing his name and spat upon. Sutter, a European immigrant who colonized the land on which California gold was first discovered, also enslaved Native Americans.
Meanwhile, the city of Fort Bragg, named after Confederate Army general and slaveholder Braxton Bragg, is considering a November ballot measure to change its name — a move endorsed by Gov. Gavin Newsom.
Other examples:
- The city of Chula Vista removed a statue of Christopher Columbus on Friday to prevent it from being pulled down during a protest.
- Berkeley Unified School District plans to rename elementary schools named after George Washington and Thomas Jefferson, former U.S. presidents who also owned slaves.
And Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi, a San Francisco Democrat, wants to remove 11 Confederate statues in the nation’s Capitol building.
Pelosi: “The statues in the Capitol should embody our highest ideals as Americans. … Monuments to men who advocated cruelty and barbarism to achieve such a plainly racist end are a grotesque affront to these ideals. Their statues pay homage to hate, not heritage.”
—CALMatters
Colliding epidemics: Fewer people addicted to drugs getting treatment
For Californians addicted to opioids, the coronavirus pandemic has created additional hurdles to accessing treatment, even as mental health experts worry the lockdown is driving more people to use drugs, CalMatters’ Rachel Becker reports. With recovery groups meeting virtually and some residential centers closing their doors or limiting admissions, fewer Californians have been accessing care. An additional difficulty: Newsom’s budget proposes scrapping $20 million for hospital behavioral health counselors, which could tear more holes in the safety net for those seeking help with substance abuse.
- Gary Tsai of Los Angeles County’s division of Substance Abuse Prevention and Control: “There’s likely much more use of substances that we’re not capturing right now, either in hospitals or emergency rooms or jails. There is a lot of concern that pent-up cases will materialize once our communities reopen. I think that’s a very real risk.”
—CALMatters
