Editing Iconoclasm (section)

== Political iconoclasm ==

===''Damnatio memoriae''===
{{main|damnatio memoriae}}
Revolutions and changes of regime, whether through uprising of the local population, foreign invasion, or a combination of both, are often accompanied by the public destruction of statues and monuments identified with the previous regime. This may also be known as ''damnatio memoriae'', the ancient Roman practice of official obliteration of the memory of a specific individual. Stricter definitions of "iconoclasm" exclude both types of action, reserving the term for religious or more widely cultural destruction.{{Citation needed|date=August 2021|reason=Which definitions?}} In many cases, such as [[Revolutionary Russia]] or [[Ancient Egypt]], this distinction can be hard to make.

Among Roman emperors and other political figures subject to decrees of ''damnatio memoriae'' were [[Sejanus]], [[Publius Septimius Geta]], and [[Domitian]]. Several Emperors, such as [[Domitian]] and [[Commodus]] had during their reigns erected numerous statues of themselves, which were pulled down and destroyed when they were overthrown.

The perception of ''damnatio memoriae'' in the Classical world as an act of erasing memory has been challenged by scholars who have argued that it "did not negate historical traces, but created gestures which served to ''dishonor'' the record of the person and so, in an oblique way, to confirm memory,"<ref>{{Cite book|last=Hedrick|first=Charles W.|title=History and Silence: Purge and Rehabilitation of Memory in Late Antiquity|publisher=University of Texas Press|year=2000|pages=88–130}}</ref> and was in effect a spectacular display of "pantomime forgetfulness."<ref>{{Cite book|last=Stewart|first=Peter|title=Statues in Roman Society: Representation and Response|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2003|pages=279–283}}</ref> Examining cases of political monument destruction in modern Irish history, [[Guy Beiner]] has demonstrated that iconoclastic vandalism often entails subtle expressions of ambiguous remembrance and that, rather than effacing memory, such acts of de-commemorating effectively preserve memory in obscure forms.<ref>{{Cite book|last=Beiner|first=Guy|title=Remembering the Year of the French: Irish Folk History and Social Memory|publisher=University of Wisconsin Press|year=2007|page=305}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last=Beiner|first=Guy|title=Forgetful Remembrance: Social Forgetting and Vernacular Historiography of a Rebellion in Ulster|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=2018|pages=369–384}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beiner |first1=Guy |title=When Monuments Fall: The Significance of Decommemorating |journal=Éire-Ireland |volume=56 |issue=1|year=2021|pages=33–61|doi=10.1353/eir.2021.0001 |s2cid=240526743 }}</ref>

===During the French Revolution===
{{Main|Iconoclasm during the French Revolution}}
Throughout the radical phase of the [[French Revolution]], iconoclasm was supported by members of the government as well as the citizenry. Numerous monuments, religious works, and other historically significant pieces were destroyed in an attempt to eradicate any memory of the [[Old Regime]]. A statue of [[King Louis XV]] in the Paris square which until then bore his name, was pulled down and destroyed. This was a prelude to the [[guillotine|guillotining]] of his successor [[Louis XVI]] in the same site, renamed "Place de la Révolution" (at present [[Place de la Concorde]]).<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Idzerda|first=Stanley J.|year=1954|title=Iconoclasm during the French Revolution|journal=The American Historical Review|volume=60/1|issue=1|pages=13–26|doi=10.2307/1842743|jstor=1842743}}</ref> Later that year, the bodies of many French kings were exhumed from the [[Basilica of Saint-Denis]] and dumped in a mass grave.<ref name=lindsay>{{cite web|last1=Lindsay|first1=Suzanne Glover|title=The Revolutionary Exhumations at St-Denis, 1793|url=http://mavcor.yale.edu/conversations/essays/revolutionary-exhumations-st-denis-1793|website=Center for the Study of Material & Visual Cultures of Religion|date=18 October 2014|publisher=Yale University}}</ref>

Some episodes of iconoclasm were carried out spontaneously by crowds of citizens, including the destruction of statues of kings during the [[insurrection of 10 August 1792]] in Paris.<ref name=":34">{{Cite journal|last=Thompson|first=Victoria E.|date=Fall–Winter 2012|title=The Creation, Destruction and Recreation of Henri IV: Seeing Popular Sovereignty in the Statue of a King|journal=History and Memory|volume=24|issue=2|pages=5–40|jstor=10.2979/histmemo.24.2.5|doi=10.2979/histmemo.24.2.5|s2cid=159942339}}</ref> Some were directly sanctioned by the Republican government, including the Saint-Denis exhumations.<ref name=lindsay/> Nonetheless, the Republican government also took steps to preserve historic artworks,<ref>{{Cite book |title=From Royal to National: The Louvre Museum and the Bibliothèque Nationale |first=Bette Wyn |last=Oliver |publisher=Lexington Books |year=2007 |isbn=978-0-7391-1861-0 |pages=21–22 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=oOXAtXKvXn0C&q=the+louvre+opening+1793 |oclc=70883061}}</ref> notably by founding the [[Louvre]] museum to house and display the former royal art collection. This allowed the physical objects and national heritage to be preserved while stripping them of their association with the monarchy.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Foucault | first=Michel | translator-last=Miskowiec | translator-first=Jay | title=Of Other Spaces | journal=Diacritics | publisher=Johns Hopkins University Press  | volume=16 | issue=1 | year=1986 | issn=0300-7162 | doi=10.2307/464648 | jstor=464648 | pages=22–27 |url=https://foucault.info/documents/heterotopia/foucault.heteroTopia.en/| url-access=subscription }} Translated from {{cite journal | last=Foucault | first=Michel |author-mask=0 |date=October 1984 |title=Des Espace Autres |journal=Architecture, Mouvement, Continuité |number=5 |pages=46–49 |language=fr}} Alternate translation available in {{cite book | last=Foucault | first=Michel |author-mask=0 |chapter=Of Other Spaces: Utopias and Heterotopias |chapter-url=http://www.vizkult.org/propositions/alineinnature/pdfs/Foucault-OfOtherSpaces1967.pdf |pages=330–336 |editor-last=Leach | editor-first=Neil | title=Rethinking Architecture: A Reader in Cultural Theory | publisher=Routledge | year=1997 | isbn=978-0-415-12826-1 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=o5Q56G7opmcC&pg=PA330}}</ref><ref>Stanley J. Idzerda, "Iconoclasm during the French Revolution." In The American Historical Review, Vol. 60, No. 1 (Oct., 1954), p. 25.</ref><ref>Deleuze, Gilles, and Felix Guattari. A Thousand Plateaus. (Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press, 1987): 212–213.</ref> [[Alexandre Lenoir]] saved many royal monuments by diverting them to preservation in a museum.<ref>Greene, Christopher M., "Alexandre Lenoir and the Musée des monuments français during the French Revolution," French Historical Studies 12, no. 2 (1981): pp. 200–222.</ref>

The statue of [[Napoleon I of France|Napoleon]] on the column at [[Place Vendôme]], Paris was also the target of iconoclasm several times: destroyed after the [[Bourbon Restoration in France|Bourbon Restoration]], restored by [[Louis-Philippe of France|Louis-Philippe]], destroyed during the [[Paris Commune]] and restored by [[Adolphe Thiers]].

After [[Napoleon]] conquered the Italian city of [[Pavia]], local Pavia Jacobins destroyed the [[Regisole]], a bronze classical equestrian monument dating back to Classical times. The Jacobins considered it a symbol of Royal authority, but it had been a prominent Pavia landmark for nearly a thousand years and its destruction aroused much indignation and precipitated a revolt by inhabitants of Pavia against the French, which was quelled by Napoleon after a furious urban fight.

=== Other examples ===
[[File:St Helen Gate.jpg|thumb|[[St. Helen's Gate]] in [[Cospicua]], Malta, which had its marble coat of arms defaced during the [[French occupation of Malta]]]]
[[File:King William Statue 1.jpg|thumb|Statue of [[William III of England|William of Orange]] formerly located on [[College Green, Dublin|College Green]], in [[Dublin]]. Erected in 1701, it was destroyed in 1929—one of several memorials installed during [[British rule in Ireland|British rule]] which were destroyed after Ireland became independent.]]
Other examples of political destruction of images include:
* There have been several cases of removing symbols of past rulers in [[Malta]]'s history. Many [[Knights Hospitaller|Hospitaller]] coats of arms on buildings were defaced during the [[French occupation of Malta]] in 1798–1800; a few of these were subsequently replaced by British coats of arms in the early 19th century.<ref>{{cite web|last=Ellul|first=Michael|date=1982|title=Art and Architecture in Malta in the Early Nineteenth Century|url=http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Proceedings%20of%20History%20Week/PHW%201982/01s.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161011202615/http://melitensiawth.com/incoming/Index/Proceedings%20of%20History%20Week/PHW%201982/01s.pdf|archive-date=11 October 2016|publisher=Melitensia Historica|pages=4–5}}</ref> Some British symbols were also removed by the government after Malta became a republic in 1974. These include [[royal cypher]]s being ground off from post boxes,<ref>{{cite news|last1=Westcott|first1=Kathryn|date=18 January 2013|title=Letter boxes: The red heart of the British streetscape|work=[[BBC]]|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21057160|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161126134728/http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-21057160|archive-date=26 November 2016}}</ref> and British coats of arms such as that on the [[Main Guard (Valletta)|Main Guard]] building being temporarily obscured (but not destroyed).<ref>{{cite news|last1=Bonello|first1=Giovanni|date=14 January 2018|title=Mysteries of the Main Guard inscription|work=[[Times of Malta]]|url=https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180114/life-features/mysteries-of-the-main-guard-inscription.667957|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180114164017/https://www.timesofmalta.com/articles/view/20180114/life-features/mysteries-of-the-main-guard-inscription.667957|archive-date=14 January 2018}}</ref>
* With the entry of the [[Ottoman Empire]] to the [[First World War]], the [[Ottoman Army]] destroyed the Russian victory monument erected in [[Yeşilköy|San Stefano]] (the modern [[Yeşilköy]] quarter of [[Istanbul]], Turkey) to commemorate the Russian victory in the [[Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878)|Russo-Turkish War of 1877–1878]]. The demolition was filmed by former army officer [[Fuat Uzkınay]], producing ''[[Ayastefanos'taki Rus Abidesinin Yıkılışı]]''—the oldest known Turkish-made film.
* In the late 18th century, [[French Revolution|French revolution]]aries known as the ''[[sans-culottes]]'' sacked [[Brussels]]' [[Grand-Place]], destroying statues of nobility and symbols of Christianity.{{sfn|Mardaga|1993|p=121}}{{sfn|Hennaut|2000|p=34–36}} In the 19th century, the place was renovated and many new statues added. In 1911, a marble commemoration for the Spanish freethinker and educator [[Francisco Ferrer]], executed two years earlier and widely considered a martyr, was erected in the Grand-Place. The statue depicted a nude man holding the Torch of Enlightenment. The [[Imperial German]] military, which [[Belgium in the First World War|occupied Belgium during the First World War]], disliked the monument and destroyed it in 1915. It was restored in 1926 by the International Free Thought Movement.<ref>Avrich, Paul (1980). "The Martyrdom of Ferrer". The Modern School Movement: Anarchism and Education in the United States. Princeton: Princeton University Press. pp. 3–33. {{ISBN|978-0-691-04669-3}}. {{OCLC|489692159}}, p. 33.</ref>
* In 1942, the pro-Nazi [[Vichy France|Vichy Government of France]] took down and melted Clothilde Roch's statue of the 16th-century dissident intellectual [[Michael Servetus]], who had been burned at the stake in [[Geneva]] at the instigation of [[John Calvin|Calvin]]. The Vichy authorities disliked the statue, as it was a celebration of freedom of conscience. In 1960, having found the original molds, the municipality of [[Annemasse]] had it recast and returned the statue to its previous place.<ref>{{cite book|author1=Goldstone, Nancy Bazelon|title=Out of the Flames: The Remarkable Story of a Fearless Scholar, a Fatal Heresy, and One of the Rarest Books in the World|author2=Goldstone, Lawrence|publisher=Broadway|year=2003|isbn=978-0-7679-0837-5|location=New York|pages= 313–316}}</ref>
* A sculpture of the head of Spanish intellectual [[Miguel de Unamuno]] by [[Victorio Macho]] was installed in the City Hall of [[Bilbao]], Spain. It was withdrawn in 1936 when Unamuno showed temporary support for the [[Nationalist (Spanish Civil War)|Nationalist]] side. During the Spanish Civil War, it was thrown into [[Estuary of Bilbao|the estuary]]. It was later recovered. In 1984 the head was installed in Plaza Unamuno. In 1999, it was again thrown into the estuary after a political meeting of {{lang|eu|[[Euskal Herritarrok]]}}. It was substituted by a copy in 2000 after the original was located in the water.<ref name="Uriona">{{cite news |last1=Uriona |first1=Alberto |title=El Ayuntamiento de Bilbao restituye a su columna el busto de Unamuno nueve meses después de su robo |url=https://elpais.com/diario/2000/03/07/paisvasco/952461620_850215.html |access-date=14 November 2022 |work=El País |date=6 March 2000 |language=es}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Camacho |first1=Isabel |title=La cabeza perdida de don Miguel |url=https://elpais.com/diario/1999/06/10/paisvasco/929043617_850215.html |access-date=14 November 2022 |work=El País |date=9 June 1999 |language=es}}</ref><ref name="Toledo">{{cite web |title=Victorio Macho y Unamuno: notas para un centenario |url=https://www.realfundaciontoledo.es/gestion/img/noticias/Victorio%20Macho%20y%20Unamuno..pdf |publisher=Real Fundación Toledo |access-date=14 November 2022 |language=es }}</ref>
* The [[Battle of Baghdad (2003)|Battle of Baghdad]] and the regime of [[Saddam Hussein]] symbolically ended with the [[Firdos Square statue destruction]], a U.S. military-staged event on 9 April 2003 where a prominent statue of Saddam Hussein was pulled down. Subsequently, statues and murals of Saddam Hussein all over Iraq were destroyed by US occupation forces as well as Iraqi citizens.<ref>Göttke, Florian. ''Toppled''. Rotterdam: Post Editions, 2010.</ref>
[[File:SaddamStatue.jpg|thumb|[[United States Marines]] [[Firdos Square statue destruction|destroy a statue]] of [[Saddam Hussein]] on Firdos Square, in [[Baghdad]], Iraq, 9 April 2003.]]
* In 2016, paintings from the [[University of Cape Town]], South Africa, were burned in student protests as symbols of [[colonialism]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Meintjies|first=Ilze-Marie|date=16 February 2016|title=Protesting UCT Students Burn Historic Paintings, Refuse To Leave|publisher=Eyewitness News|url=http://ewn.co.za/2016/02/16/Chaos-erupts-at-UCT}}</ref>
* In November 2019, a [[Statue of Zlatan|statue]] of Swedish footballer [[Zlatan Ibrahimović]] in [[Malmö]], Sweden, was vandalized by [[Malmö FF]] supporters after he announced he had become part-owner of Swedish rivals [[Hammarby Fotboll|Hammarby]]. White paint was sprayed on it; threats and hateful messages towards Zlatan were written on the statue, and it was burned.<ref name="auto">{{Cite news|date=12 December 2019|title=Zlatan Ibrahimovic statue: Vandals try to saw through feet|work=BBC Sport|url=https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/50756061|access-date=23 December 2019|via=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|last=Daniels|first=Tim|title=Zlatan Ibrahimovic's Malmo Statue Set on Fire After Becoming Hammarby Part Owner|url=https://bleacherreport.com/articles/2864555-zlatan-ibrahimovics-malmo-statue-set-on-fire-after-becoming-hammarby-part-owner|access-date=23 December 2019|website=Bleacher Report}}</ref> In a second attack the nose was sawed off and the statue was sprinkled with chrome paint.<ref>{{Cite news|last=Erberth|first=Nellie|date=December 22, 2019|title=Zlatans staty vandaliserad igen – näsan avsågad|newspaper=SVT Nyheter|url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/skane/zlatans-staty-vandaliserad-igen-nasan-avsagad|via=www.svt.se}}</ref> On 5 January 2020 it was finally toppled.<ref>{{Cite news|last1=Wikén|first1=Johan|last2=Erberth|first2=Nellie|date=January 5, 2020|title=Zlatanstatyn vandaliserad igen – avsågad vid fötterna|newspaper=SVT Nyheter|url=https://www.svt.se/nyheter/lokalt/skane/zlatanstatyn-vandaliserad-igen|via=www.svt.se}}</ref>
* On 7 June 2020, during the [[George Floyd protests in the United Kingdom|George Floyd protests]],<ref name="cbs_07062020">{{cite news |title=Protesters in England topple statue of slave trader Edward Colston into harbor |date=7 June 2020 |work=CBS News |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-floyd-protest-edward-colston-statue-thrown-into-bristol-harbor-today-2020-06-07/ |access-date=8 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608061324/https://www.cbsnews.com/news/george-floyd-protest-edward-colston-statue-thrown-into-bristol-harbor-today-2020-06-07/ |archive-date=8 June 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref> a [[Statue of Edward Colston|statue]] of merchant and [[Bristol slave trade|trans-Atlantic slave trader]] [[Edward Colston]] in [[Bristol]], UK, was pulled down by demonstrators who then jumped on it.<ref name="theguardiansiddique" /> They daubed it in red and blue paint, and one protester placed his knee on the statue's neck to allude to Floyd's murder by a white policeman who knelt on Floyd's neck for over nine minutes.<ref name="cbs_07062020" /><ref>{{cite news|last=Zaks|first=Dmitry|title=UK slave trader's statue toppled in anti-racism protests|date=8 June 2020|newspaper=The Jakarta Post|agency=Agence France-Presse|url=https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/06/08/uk-slave-traders-statue-toppled-in-anti-racism-protests.html|access-date=8 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200608065814/https://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2020/06/08/uk-slave-traders-statue-toppled-in-anti-racism-protests.html|archive-date=8 June 2020|url-status=live}}</ref> The statue was then rolled down Anchor Road and pushed into [[Bristol Harbour]].<ref name="theguardiansiddique">{{cite news |first1=Haroon |last1=Siddique |access-date=7 June 2020 |title=BLM protesters topple statue of Bristol slave trader Edward Colston |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/07/blm-protesters-topple-statue-of-bristol-slave-trader-edward-colston |work=The Guardian |date=7 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607160825/https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2020/jun/07/blm-protesters-topple-statue-of-bristol-slave-trader-edward-colston |archive-date=7 June 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="bbc52954305">{{cite news |title=George Floyd death: Protesters tear down slave trader statue |date=7 June 2020 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52954305 |work=BBC News |access-date=7 June 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607110402/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-52954305 |archive-date=7 June 2020 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="sullivanindependent">{{Cite news|last=Sullivan|first=Rory|date=7 June 2020|title=Black Lives Matter protesters pull down statue of 17th century UK slave trader|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/black-lives-matter-protests-uk-bristol-statue-edward-colston-slavery-a9553266.html|access-date=7 June 2020 |work=The Independent|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200607141249/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/black-lives-matter-protests-uk-bristol-statue-edward-colston-slavery-a9553266.html|archive-date=7 June 2020|url-status=live}}</ref>

===In the Soviet Union===
[[File:Christ saviour explosion.jpg|thumb|Demolition of the [[Cathedral of Christ the Saviour]], in [[Moscow]], Russia, 5 December 1931]]
During and after the [[October Revolution]], widespread destruction of religious and secular imagery in Russia took place, as well as the destruction of imagery related to [[House of Romanov|the Imperial family]]. The Revolution was accompanied by destruction of monuments of [[tsar]]s, as well as the destruction of [[Coat of arms of Russia|imperial eagles]] at various locations throughout [[Russian Empire|Russia]]. According to [[Christopher Wharton]]:<ref>Christopher Wharton, [http://www.westminstercollege.edu/myriad/index.cfm?parent=2514&detail=4475&content=4797 "The Hammer and Sickle: The Role of Symbolism and Rituals in the Russian Revolution"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100528035402/http://www.westminstercollege.edu/myriad/index.cfm?parent=2514&detail=4475&content=4797|date=2010-05-28}}</ref><blockquote>In front of a Moscow Cathedral, crowds cheered as the enormous statue of Tsar [[Alexander III of Russia|Alexander&nbsp;III]] was bound with ropes and gradually beaten to the ground. After a considerable amount of time, the statue was decapitated and its remaining parts were broken into rubble.</blockquote>The [[Soviet Union]] actively destroyed religious sites, including [[Russian Orthodox]] churches and [[Jewish cemeteries]], in order to discourage religious practice and curb the activities of religious groups.

During the [[Hungarian Revolution of 1956]] and during the [[Revolutions of 1989]], protesters often attacked and took down sculptures and images of [[Joseph Stalin]], such as the [[Stalin Monument (Budapest)|Stalin Monument]] in [[Budapest]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Auyezov|first=Olzhas|title=Ukraine says blowing up Stalin statue was terrorism|url=https://www.reuters.com/article/us-ukraine-stalin-idUSTRE7043D920110105|work=Reuters|access-date=9 April 2011|date=January 5, 2011}}</ref>

The fall of Communism in 1989–1991 was also followed by the destruction or removal of statues of [[Vladimir Lenin]] and other Communist leaders in the [[former Soviet Union]] and in other [[Eastern Bloc]] countries. Particularly well-known was the destruction of "[[Monument to Felix Dzerzhinsky, Moscow|Iron Felix]]", the statue of [[Felix Dzerzhinsky]] outside the [[KGB]]'s headquarters. Another statue of Dzerzhinsky was destroyed in a [[Warsaw]] square that was named after him during [[communist Poland|communist rule]], but which is now called [[Bank Square, Warsaw|Bank Square]].

=== In the United States ===
[[File:Johannes Adam Simon Oertel Pulling Down the Statue of King George III, N.Y.C. ca. 1859.jpg|thumb|The [[Sons of Liberty]] pulling down the statue of [[George&nbsp;III of the United Kingdom]] on [[Bowling Green (New York City)]], 1776]]During the [[American Revolution]], the [[Sons of Liberty]] pulled down and destroyed the [[gilding|gilded]] lead statue of [[George III of the United Kingdom]] on [[Bowling Green (New York City)]], melting it down to be recast as [[Musket#Ammunition|ammunition]].<ref>[https://www.metmuseum.org/art/collection/search/666015 The Destruction of the Royal Statue at New York on July 9, 1776]</ref><ref>[https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/a-toppled-statue-of-george-iii-epitomizes-the-ongoing-debate-over-americas-monuments-180979463/ A Toppled Statue of George III Illuminates the Ongoing Debate Over America’s Monuments]</ref><ref>[https://www.nationalgeographic.com/history/article/pulling-down-statues-tradition-dates-back-united-states-independence Pulling down statues? It’s a tradition that dates back to U.S. independence]</ref> Sometimes relatively intact monuments are moved to a collected display in a less prominent place, as in India and also [[Post-communist countries|post-Communist countries]].

In August 2017, a statue of a [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] soldier dedicated to "[[Confederate States Army|the boys who wore the gray]]" was pulled down from its pedestal in front of [[Durham County, North Carolina|Durham County]] [[Durham County Justice Center|Courthouse]] in [[North Carolina]] by protesters. This followed the events at the [[2017 Unite the Right rally]] in response to growing calls to [[Removal of Confederate monuments and memorials|remove Confederate monuments and memorials]] across the U.S.<ref>{{Cite news|title=SEE IT: Crowd pulls down Confederate statue in North Carolina|language=en|work=NY Daily News|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/crowd-pulls-confederate-statue-north-carolina-article-1.3411619|access-date=2017-08-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|last=Holland|first=Jesse J.|title=Deadly rally accelerates ongoing removal of Confederate statues across U.S.|language=en-US|work=chicagotribune.com|url=http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-confederate-statue-removal-20170815-story.html|access-date=2017-08-15}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title=War over Confederate statues reveals simple thinking on all sides|language=en|work=NY Daily News|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/opinion/monumental-ignorance-article-1.3424004|access-date=2017-08-28}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|first=Amanda|last=Jackson|title=Protesters pull down Confederate statue in North Carolina|url=http://www.cnn.com/2017/08/14/us/confederate-statue-pulled-down-north-carolina-trnd/index.html|access-date=2017-08-15|website=CNN|date=15 August 2017}}</ref>

==== 2020 demonstrations ====
{{main|List of monuments and memorials removed during the George Floyd protests}}
During the [[George Floyd protests]] of 2020, demonstrators pulled down dozens of statues which they considered symbols of the [[Confederate States of America|Confederacy]], [[Slavery in the United States|slavery]], [[Racial segregation in the United States|segregation]], or [[Racism in the United States|racism]], including the [[statue of Williams Carter Wickham]] in [[Richmond, Virginia]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Fultz|first=Matthew|date=7 June 2020|title=Crew heard cheers as Confederate general's statue toppled in Monroe Park|work=[[WTVR-TV|WTVR]]|url=https://www.wtvr.com/news/local-news/crew-heard-cheers-as-confederate-generals-statue-toppled-in-monroe-park}}</ref><ref>{{Cite magazine |last=Taylor|first=Alan|title=Photos: The Statues Brought Down Since the George Floyd Protests Began |url=https://www.theatlantic.com/photo/2020/07/photos-statues-removed-george-floyd-protests-began/613774/|access-date=2020-07-29|magazine=The Atlantic}}</ref>

Further demonstrations in the wake of the [[George Floyd protests]] have resulted in the removal of:<ref>{{Cite news|first1=Alisha |last1=Ebrahimji|first2=Artemis |last2=Moshtaghian|title=These confederate statues have been removed since George Floyd's death |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/09/us/confederate-statues-removed-george-floyd-trnd/index.html|access-date=2020-06-11}}</ref>
* the [[John Breckinridge Castleman|John Breckenridge Castleman]] monument in [[Louisville, Kentucky]];
* plaques in [[Jacksonville, Florida|Jacksonville, Florida's]] [[Hemming Park]] (renamed in 1899 in honor of Civil War veteran Charles C. Hemming), which were in remembrance of deceased [[Confederate States Army|Confederate]] soldiers;
* the monumental [[obelisk]] of the [[Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument (Birmingham, Alabama)|Confederate Soldiers and Sailors Monument]] and a statue of [[Charles Linn]] in [[Linn Park, Birmingham, Alabama]];
* a statue of [[Junípero Serra]] in [[Golden Gate Park]], San Francisco;<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-06-21|title=San Francisco Archbishop Outraged Over Toppling Of Golden Gate Park Junipero Serra Statue|url=https://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2020/06/21/juneteenth-archbishop-critical-of-toppling-of-golden-gate-park-junipero-serra-statue/|access-date=2020-07-29|language=en-US}}</ref>
* a statue of Confederate [[Robert E. Lee|Gen. Robert E. Lee]] in [[Montgomery, Alabama]];
* the [[Robert E. Lee Monument (Richmond, Virginia)|monument to Robert E. Lee]] in [[Richmond, Virginia]];<ref name="Schneider-Vozzella-2021">{{cite news | last1=Schneider | first1=Gregory S. | last2=Vozzella | first2=Laura | title=Robert E. Lee statue is removed in Richmond, ex-capital of Confederacy, after months of protests and legal resistance | newspaper=Washington Post | date=2021-09-08 | url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/virginia-politics/robert-e-lee-statue-removal/2021/09/08/1d9564ee-103d-11ec-9cb6-bf9351a25799_story.html | access-date=2021-09-08}}</ref>
* the [[Appomattox (statue)|Appomattox]] statue in [[Alexandria, Virginia]], leaving the monument's base empty but intact.

Multiple statues of early European explorers and founders were also vandalized, including those of [[Christopher Columbus]], [[George Washington]], and [[Thomas Jefferson]].<ref name="Asmelash">{{cite web|first=Leah |last=Asmelash |title=Statues of Christopher Columbus are being dismounted across the country|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/06/10/us/christopher-columbus-statues-down-trnd/index.html|access-date=2020-06-11|work=CNN|date=10 June 2020 }}</ref><ref name="DWilliams">{{cite web|first=David |last=Williams |title=Protesters tore down a George Washington statue and set a fire on its head|url=https://edition.cnn.com/2020/06/19/us/portland-george-washington-statue-toppled-trnd/index.html|work=CNN|date=19 June 2020 |access-date=2022-03-20}}</ref>
* [[Christopher Columbus]] was removed in Virginia, Minnesota, Chicago and beheaded in Boston MA.<ref name="Asmelash"/>
* [[George Washington]] statue was toppled in Portland, Oregon.<ref name="DWilliams"/>