More than 3,000 sign petition to remove Columbus

More than 3,000 sign petition to remove Columbus
Christopher Columbus statue at Government House

NASSAU, BAHAMAS — A petition to remove the statue of Christopher Columbus had garnered more than 3,500 signatures last night.

The statue, which sits on the front steps of Government House overlooking Downtown Nassau, has become increasingly controversial in recent years reflecting global attitudes towards historic monuments depicting colonial figures.

The Italian explorer who “discovered” the new world when he landed on San Salvador in 1492 has come under increased scrutiny, with historical texts linking his storied pilgrimage to murder, rape, slavery, and genocide.

The most recent change.org petition was created by Craig Woodside yesterday afternoon, and within two hours had garnered more than 1,000 signatures.

Woodside points to “Columbus’ use of torture and dismemberment while serving as governor of a Spanish colony in the Bahamas/Caribbean earned him a reputation for shocking sadism.”

The Government House statue was erected in 1830 by Lord Carmichael in Columbus’ honour.

Several monuments at Landfall Park on San Salvador also memorialize Columbus’ arrival there. Another monument placed on the floor of the ocean marks the exact spot where his ship is believed to have dropped anchor.

In 2018, the city of Los Angeles removed the 45-year-old statue of Christopher Columbus in Grand Park following years of vandalism and petitioning.

Calls for the removal of statues memorializing colonial or slavery-era figures have intensified as anti-racism protests continue in several countries following the death of George Floyd.

Floyd died after a white police officer knelt on his neck for more than eight minutes on May 25, and his death has sparked nationwide protests across the United States, and internationally.

On Sunday, protesters at a Black Lives Matter rally in western England tore down a statue of a 17th century slave trader and threw it into the river.

About Matthew Moxey

Matthew Moxey is a broadcast reporter with Eyewitness News and also serves as the station’s morning radio news anchor for 103.5 The Beat. He joined Eyewitness News as an intern, which led to him becoming a full-time broadcast reporter with the news station. Some of his notable work includes his correspondence with international networks such as CNN, FOX and NBC; his reporting on the COVID-19 pandemic; and his live coverage of monster storm Hurricane Dorian.

22 comments

Have these people nothing better to do?
Nothing else to worry about?
Many should be removed, a statue is not one of them.

It need to be move Christopher Columbus was a thief and a murderer put a hero of the nation there

The creator of the Encomienda System, who literally exterminated an entire race of people from the planet does not deserve to be commemorated and immortalized in a free governing, predominately black country. It’s common sense.

If you don’t understand the violent history of this murderer and rapist and why it’s offensive to have a statue of him in front of the house of government then I think you should be removed ??‍♂️

I think we should start with the root of the problem not the workers but the boss

If it wasn’t for Christopher Columbus, there would be no Bahamas, if it wasn’t for Christopher Columbus, the Western world including the Bahamas would not have been introduced to Christianity.. Was he perfect, no . Tell me who is.. Let’s take Lynden Pindling of the Bahamian dollar bill… Let’s remove Milo Butler statue from Rawsom square, exposed their closets, You’ll need to get a life…

Terrence I don’t even know where to start with your load of baloney, you talk about Christopher Columbus discovering the Bahamas, if he did not discover our islands it would’ve been somebody else, and you talk about Christianity, do you know that the white man introduced Christianity to black people as a form of mental slavery to control us, but don’t just take my word for it look at the history books to see what is going on in most religious countries today Corruption and Chaos. And don’t get me wrong I believe in the one true God the Lord Jesus Christ. I think we should get rid of any and everything that doesn’t serve us any purpose as a nation, for our future generation whether it is a statue, drug lords on money bills politicians etc.

Lmao, probably the stupidest thing I’ve seen, how you discover something that’s already inhabited by others? They raped and pillaged and stole, they eradicated an entire race of people and paved the way for the transatlantic slave trade.

But let’s ignore all that cuz he gave us White Jesus

Miss me with all that *****

Better to do than to have a symbol of oppression, rape, colonialism and genocide removed? I wonder what you think is a better use of time.

And look what he say say he give us Christianity … that time Jesus ain’t even white … and these traditional Christians so brain washed ??

The comments of there being more important things to worry about tells me a lot about the level of ignorance of my people & that’s sad. The important things we have to worry about in this country don’t get the attention it needs when people like you’ll always putting it down to more important things to worry just because you don’t understand the importance of what negative & suppressive statement that statue is making, it needs to be removed & replaced with the father of our nation The Rt Hon Sir Lynden O. Pindling ! Now am ready to sign where is the petition?

And he is not commemorated anyway, his name is Nicolás de Ovando. Try going to school and reading a book instead of smoking it up in clubs, that will make your posts less of a twaddle.

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