Protesters Say Tower Grove Columbus Statue Glorifies Racism

ST. LOUIS, MO — Several dozen protesters gathered in Tower Grove Park in St. Louis Monday afternoon to call for the removal of a statue of Christopher Columbus.

"The statue is a symbol of racism, colonialism, patriarchy — this legacy Columbus brought with him when he came over from Europe," said Chris Singer, who helped organize the protest. "There are a lot of ongoing problems in this country. We just saw the Kavanaugh hearings. There's black people being murdered all the time by police. There are all the issues going on in Palestine. So this legacy is not something in the past. It's a present-day crisis for a lot of people."

Singer said he hopes protests like the one today will start a public conversation and help people draw connections between history and today's politics.

Kathy Dickerson, who is half Kiowa and half Italian, was born and raised on The Hill, St. Louis' traditionally Italian neighborhood. She has a slightly different perspective from some of her fellow protesters, who want the statue torn down. Dickerson says that would be "erasing history."

"We don't like to erase history, but we can always add to history," she said. "I'd like to add a plaque telling about [Columbus'] atrocities. I think that would be a solution rather than getting rid of something Henry Shaw wanted here in the first place, and that was to welcome immigrants. That was a very important thing at that time. But time has changed now."

But Basmin, an activist who prefers to go by one name for privacy reasons, said the statue doesn't just represent Columbus; it glorifies him.

"There was no land [Columbus] went to that was not inhabited by human beings," she said. "This continent, there were hundreds of tribes, hundreds of languages. We had a life here. We had our beliefs about the creator."

She called on St. Louis to institute an Indigenous Peoples Day to replace Columbus Day, as some other cities around the country have done in recent years.

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Bill Reininger, Tower Grove Park's executive director, said the statue was originally installed — by St. Louis philanthropist Henry Shaw, who donated the land for the park as well as the adjoining Missouri Botanical Garden — to welcome Italian immigrants to the city.

"There are three statues that were installed down the spine of the park. And those were put in by Shaw to make the immigrant class of the time feel welcome to the park," he said. "You have Christoper Columbus for the Italians, Alexander von Humboldt for the Germans and Williams Shakespeare for Englishmen such as himself. Those statues really helped those folks feel welcome to not only the park but the city and the country. Those statues were put up at a time of racial tension and they had a calming effect for those that were immigrating over."

All three statues were built by German artist Ferdinand von Miller in 1886.

"We understand there are varying views regarding the statue, emotionally charged on both sides," Reininger continued, adding that protesters are welcome to express and discuss those views in the park.

Tower Grove Park recently put together a commission that will make a recommendation on the statue's fate over the coming months.

"That commission is comprised of Native Americans, Italian Americans, folks from the Saint Louis Art Museum, History Museum, National Park Service, Black Lives Matter and a representative from the activist group as well," Reininger said.

The commission's first meeting is scheduled for the end of October.

Photos by J. Ryne Danielson/Patch