Read on Twitter
THREAD: Public statues are often targets in a crisis, much like museums-but for other reasons
This is a statue of a monarch who was beheaded for treason & overthrown in a revolution
It is unsurprising that a statue of such a figure becomes a target during an evolving revolution https://twitter.com/ericcrawford/status/1266206301270544386
This is a statue of a monarch who was beheaded for treason & overthrown in a revolution
It is unsurprising that a statue of such a figure becomes a target during an evolving revolution https://twitter.com/ericcrawford/status/1266206301270544386
The removal of public representations of leaders and figures who stood for opposition of those rebelling has been symbolic for the dismantling of the systems they represent
It’s happened for hundreds of years, becoming a cultural history in its own right https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/world/controversial-statues-monuments-destroyed.html
It’s happened for hundreds of years, becoming a cultural history in its own right https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/world/controversial-statues-monuments-destroyed.html
During the American Revolution, colonists removed a statue of King George III of England
@krystaldcosta writes that it “was both an act of defiance and an act of solidarity; they were looking forward to the future that would be crafted on American soil”
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/the-history-behind-the-king-george-iii-statue-meme/
@krystaldcosta writes that it “was both an act of defiance and an act of solidarity; they were looking forward to the future that would be crafted on American soil”
https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/anthropology-in-practice/the-history-behind-the-king-george-iii-statue-meme/
During the Hungarian Revolution in 1956 protestors toppled a statue of Joseph Stalin as protestors revolted against Soviet-imposed policies
https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/9/1956-polish-and-hungarian-crises/3
https://digitalarchive.wilsoncenter.org/collection/9/1956-polish-and-hungarian-crises/3
It’s not just statues—portraits, posters, & other representations of leaders who have engaged in oppression are symbolically destroyed or vandalized during rebellion
Portraits of Hitler were defaced by Parisians after German surrender in WWII @jaceyfortin https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/world/controversial-statues-monuments-destroyed.html
Portraits of Hitler were defaced by Parisians after German surrender in WWII @jaceyfortin https://www.nytimes.com/2017/08/17/world/controversial-statues-monuments-destroyed.html
In 1991 activists toppled a statue of the KGB‘s Felix Dzerzhinsky, known as “Iron Felix”
The statue stood in Moscow’s Lubyanka Square next to the KFB headquarters
https://apnews.com/863f51d5087d19bee14a280626730385
The statue stood in Moscow’s Lubyanka Square next to the KFB headquarters
https://apnews.com/863f51d5087d19bee14a280626730385
Toppling of statues has also been used as a manipulative tool in conflicts and uprisings
The famous images of the toppling of Saddam‘s statue after the US invasion of Iraq were later revealed as staged
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89489923
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-toppling-saddam-statue-firdos-square-baghdad
The famous images of the toppling of Saddam‘s statue after the US invasion of Iraq were later revealed as staged
https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=89489923
https://www.propublica.org/article/the-toppling-saddam-statue-firdos-square-baghdad
In 2011 as the Arab Spring swept the Middle East & North Africa, revolutionaries across the region tore down images of their leaders or statues of oppression as they protested to overthrow regimes
Protestors in this image remove posters of Egypt’s Mubarak https://www.npr.org/2011/12/17/143897126/the-arab-spring-a-year-of-revolution
Protestors in this image remove posters of Egypt’s Mubarak https://www.npr.org/2011/12/17/143897126/the-arab-spring-a-year-of-revolution
As the Syrian civil war escalated in 2013, rebels in Raqqa toppled a statue of president Bashar Al Assad’s father Hafez, who was known as “the butcher”
Bashar was and still is following in his father’s footsteps, slaughtering his people.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/04/syrian-rebels-statue-assad-father
Bashar was and still is following in his father’s footsteps, slaughtering his people.
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/mar/04/syrian-rebels-statue-assad-father
Bashar Al Assad re-erected a statue of his father in 2019 after the regime took control of Daraa, the birthplace of the 2011 Syrian Revolution
It illustrates how these statues represent both historic & current oppression
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/06/new-assad-statues-syria-regime-stay/590965/
It illustrates how these statues represent both historic & current oppression
https://www.theatlantic.com/international/archive/2019/06/new-assad-statues-syria-regime-stay/590965/
In 2015, South Africans rebelled against more than a century of colonial rule and the apartheid system that oppressed them as they vandalized & targeted apartheid-era statues
The country would not be the last to confront these symbols of its racist past
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/10/vandalism-of-apartheid-era-statues-sparks-fevered-debate-in-south-africa
The country would not be the last to confront these symbols of its racist past
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/apr/10/vandalism-of-apartheid-era-statues-sparks-fevered-debate-in-south-africa
In 2017 protests grew as states across the US reckoned with their past of slavery memorialized in statues that revere leaders representing racism and slavery
The tensions over these statues led to a deadly white supremacist rally later that year
https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN1AV0XE
The tensions over these statues led to a deadly white supremacist rally later that year
https://mobile.reuters.com/article/amp/idUSKCN1AV0XE
Statue of Edward Carmack-a racist Tennessee lawmaker in the early 1900s - he frequently wrote editorials criticizing civil rights journalist Ida B Wells
As the revolution in America grows, more statues of oppression will fall
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/tennessee/articles/2020-05-30/nashville-protesters-topple-statue-of-racist-politician
As the revolution in America grows, more statues of oppression will fall
https://www.usnews.com/news/best-states/tennessee/articles/2020-05-30/nashville-protesters-topple-statue-of-racist-politician
https://twitter.com/andrewspotts/status/1267267697617879043?s=21 https://twitter.com/andrewspotts/status/1267267697617879043
Here, leadership steps in to dismantle the symbols of oppression.
This will be interesting to watch. Part of the removal of the statues and images seen above is the symbolic gesture of “toppling” or “tearing down” oppression as part of a revolution https://twitter.com/mspackyetti/status/1267344707996323840?s=21 https://twitter.com/mspackyetti/status/1267344707996323840
This will be interesting to watch. Part of the removal of the statues and images seen above is the symbolic gesture of “toppling” or “tearing down” oppression as part of a revolution https://twitter.com/mspackyetti/status/1267344707996323840?s=21 https://twitter.com/mspackyetti/status/1267344707996323840
