King Leopold II Statue Removed by Belgian Authorities Amid Protests
The statue of the colonialist, who murdered an estimated 10 million Congolese people during his rule, has been removed amid Black Lives Matter protests.
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Johan Vermant, spokesperson for Antwerp Mayor Bart De Wever says that,"The statue has been vandalised and will be removed and temporarily housed in the sculpture collection of the Middelheim Museum, where it will be restored." Vermant goes on to add that, "Since the square where the statue stood will be redesigned in 2023, and there will be no room for it afterwards, it will probably remain part of the museum's collection."
Admittedly, the reparations owed to the DRC by Belgium, as is the case with many colonised African countries, are long overdue. Last year, the European country finally issued a formal apology to the DRC for kidnapping and deporting their mixed-race children, known as the métis, during the colonial era––an apology that only came after six decades.
The toppling of colonialist statues, on the other hand, is not a new phenomenon. Images and objects representing oppression have been the target of many uprisings and mass demonstrations. Back in 2015, South African students at the University of Cape Town toppled the statue of colonialist Cecil Rhodes during what was collectively defined as the "Fallist Era".
The fight against systemic racism across the world continues. While racist police establishments are at the heart of the Black Lives Matter protests in America, and now several other countries, all racist establishments and the symbols that represent them are being thrust into the spotlight––they simply must fall.
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