California to Replace Toppled Statue With Memorial to Tribes

Crux ^ | 9/25/21 | Adam Beam

[marshmallow]

SACRAMENTO, California — More than a year after protesters toppled a statue of a Spanish missionary on the grounds of the California Capitol, Gov. Gavin Newsom signed a law on Friday to replace it with a memorial for the state’s Native Americans.

A statue of Father Junipero Serra had stood in Capitol Park since 1967. He was a Catholic priest who established a string of missions from San Diego to San Francisco in the late 1700s and used them as centers to convert members of nearby tribes to Christianity.

But many natives were forced to live and work at the missions and subjected to beatings and other abuse. Thousands died.

Serra was given sainthood by Pope Francis in 2015, a controversial decision that brought sharp criticism from those who see Serra as a colonialist who destroyed Native American tribes and their cultures.

Last summer, the murder of George Floyd by a Minnesota police officer prompted nationwide protests over racial injustice. On July 4, 2020, protesters tore down the Serra statue on the Capitol grounds. Protesters also tore down Serra statues in San Francisco and Los Angeles.

Assemblyman James Ramos, a Democrat from Highland and a member of the Serrano/Cahuilla tribe, authored a bill to replace the statue on the Capitol grounds with a memorial for Native Americans in the Sacramento area. It’s one of several laws Newsom signed on Friday dealing with Native American issues.

“Today’s action sends a powerful message from the grounds of Capitol Park across California underscoring the state’s commitment to reckoning with our past and working to advance a California for All built on our values of inclusion and equity,” Newsom said in a news release announcing the signing.

[hanamizu]

“Hey California, when are you renaming all of the cities originally names for the Spanish (white, racist) Missions? “

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My junior high history book (this was late 50s, early 60s) foresaw this. If the Communists took over, cities with names like Los Angeles, St. Louis, San Francisco would have to change their names. Seemed so far-fetched back then

[july4thfreedomfoundation]

Their ancestors were from Asia.

First peoples? Maybe. But “native Americans?” Meh.

[realcleanguy]

No, it’s in SoCal, and it is the reservation with the most needs for water and basic services in California