Portland Historical Statues Destroyed

October 12th, tensions were high Monday night in Portland as a protest was held against Columbus Day. Over 200 hundred people joined and destroyed two historical statues and broke into the “Oregon Historical Society”. The march was against colonists and the mistreatment of Native Americans in this country. Columbus Day has been a national holiday since October 12th, 1792. The holiday has always been about the founding of our country and where it started. The recent protest has been to appreciate and protect the Native Americans who have been discriminate against since Christopher Columbus landed on the land we now call America.

The protest destroyed president Lincoln’s statue with the words “Dakota 38” in reference to the 38 Native Americans killed in Dakota in 1862. President Lincoln was the one to make the executive order to put the Natives to death. The protesters were claiming that the trials were unconstitutional and unfair for the Native Americans. The court hearing was in a different language, the evidence was not strong, and no authorities recognized that it was an end of the war and prisoners should be treated humanly, instead they had bags over their heads as their Indian drums were played as they all were brutally hanged. The protest also destroyed a statue of Theodore Roosevelt. Roosevelt was recorded saying “It would be better if almost all Native Americans were dead” The protesters were obviously infuriated about the treatment of Native Americans over the years.

The protest was eventually deemed a riot and the people were told to clear out or arrest would be made. Three arrests were made against the person who pulled the statues over by a rope tied to his van. He was charged with destroying a historical statue. Two other arrests were made on similar charges. The riots in Portland made it to President Trump when he made a statement saying “Portland, call in the Feds” on his twitter. This is another protest which is making national headlines but what is this accomplishing? Are the people destroying the monuments to rewrite our nation’s history or to make the dark history known to the world?