Gilroy Puts Up Mission Bell Over Objections From Native Americans

GILROY, CA — The city of Gilroy put up a mission bell downtown on Friday as part of a commemoration of its 150th anniversary, a move that drew criticism over its connection to colonialism and the harsh treatment of Native Americans.

The bell, erected on El Camino Real, “shows the destruction and domination of native people never ended,” the chairman of the tribal band Amah Mutsun, Val Lopez, told the Mercury News. Members of Amah Mutsun protested the bell’s installation at a council meeting earlier this month.

Councilmember Rebeca Armendariz, who was among the councilmembers who objected to the project, told NBC Bay Area that the bell was a “symbol of white supremacy, a symbol of oppression, a symbol of genocide that you need to talk by in our downtown.”

But Gilroy Mayor Marie Blankley said that the protests shouldn’t amount to a “do-over solely based on the request of those disappointed” and that there will be disappointment over any agenda item, according to NBC Bay Area.

Click here to read more about the controversy in the Gilroy Dispatch.