Statues that disappeared amid the 2020 Black Lives Matter protests are being re-erected across the United States. Moves to bring back statues of Christopher Columbus and Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, once branded symbols of racism and colonialism, are spreading. With the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence approaching and the Donald Trump administration joining in, some say the culture war in American society over history and identity has entered a new phase.
According to the Wall Street Journal (WSJ), traditionalist groups and conservative-leaning citizens have recently begun restoring removed monuments by suing local governments or pressuring politicians. They argue that "erasing the past does not make history disappear."
A representative case is Columbus, the capital of Ohio. The city, named after Christopher Columbus, removed a 6.7-meter-tall Columbus statue in front of city hall in 2020 as protests against racism spread after George Floyd's death. At the time, city officials said the statue "symbolizes patriarchy, oppression and division."
The statue is currently kept in storage. But in April, Italian American groups filed a federal lawsuit, saying "the removal was illegal." Jack Conte, who led the suit, told the WSJ, "The formerly silent majority is beginning to speak up," adding, "There are limits to forcing a particular view of history on people."
A similar trend is emerging in the South. The monument to Robert E. Lee, hailed as a hero of the Confederacy and labeled a symbol of racism and removed in many places, recently reappeared in Marion Square, a central site in Charleston, South Carolina. The Daughters of the Confederacy, which had been in a legal battle with city authorities, got the monument back and reinstalled it in exchange for dropping the lawsuit.
In Texas, Major League Baseball's Texas Rangers re-erected the "One Riot, One Ranger" bronze statue in the plaza outside their ballpark after it had been removed from an airport in the past. When it was taken down in 2020, critics said the Texas Ranger officer who modeled for the statue had opposed integrating Black and white students at public schools in the 1950s. The club, however, pushed ahead with the restoration, saying "the Rangers' more than 200-year legacy is Texas history itself."
The Louisiana legislature went a step further. It passed a bill allowing the state government to take over statues removed by local governments and transfer and preserve them in state parks and other sites. Progressive-leaning cities such as New Orleans are pushing back, calling it "virtually an expropriation of municipal property," but they have been unable to overcome the wall of the state legislature controlled by conservatives.
The WSJ said the White House sits at the apex of this "statue revival project." In particular, since the Trump administration took office, debates over restoring statues have risen from the local level to a national agenda. With ceremonies for the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence next month, the Trump administration is supporting historical restoration measures across the board. In March, a new Columbus statue was installed in front of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building near the White House. It is a replica modeled after the statue that protesters roped and tossed into the Baltimore harbor in 2020. President Trump, in a letter of thanks to the donating group, praised Columbus as "America's first hero." More recently, the statue of Caesar Rodney, a signer of the Declaration of Independence who owned enslaved people, was also reinstalled in Washington, D.C.
The White House argues that the 250th anniversary of U.S. independence is a time to reexamine the achievements of the founding generation. Vince Haley, a White House adviser, said, "We must choose whether to honor the historic choices and figures of the revolutionary generation, or to leave history to those who want to use it as a political tool."
But pushback is strong. Academia and progressives sharply criticize it as an anachronistic regression in history. Nicole Moore, president of the National Council on Public History, said, "Humans can be complex beings, but racism and genocide are not complex issues," adding, "Once we know history accurately, we must ask ourselves whether we should honor these figures in public spaces."
Those who oppose restoring statues say it is "an attempt to glorify racism and colonialism under the pretext of historical preservation." Supporters, meanwhile, argue that the merits and faults of historical figures should be assessed together and that history should not be judged by today's values.