Online Petition To Replace Columbus Statue With Prince Statue

Over the last month, we have seen a movement to re-name area lakes, buildings, and now even a city in Minnesota is questioning its namesake after having ties to slavery or the Confederacy. One such statue, the Christopher Columbus statue at the Minnesota capitol was recently torn down. An online petition is asking to replace that statue of Columbus with one of former musician and Minnesotan Prince.

Ironically the online petition was made in 2017 before the statue was in need of replacement after it was torn down earlier this month after the murder of George Floyd and the protests took place afterward nationwide.

The petitioner, Wintana Melekin, states in the online petition that:

"Across the nation, city governments are choosing to remove statues of white supremacists, slave owners, and those who threatened the livelihood of Black people. Here in Minnesota, communities are reigniting the demand to bring down state’s monument to Christopher Columbus, a man who murdered, raped and enslaved Black and Native peoples in the Americas. We, the undersigned, do not believe that Columbus represents the values Minnesotans carry. Rather than glorify a man who wanted to extinguish Black and Native peoples, we should honor members of our community whose leadership we find inspirational."

The 2017 petition has gotten more legs with recent events and has over 11,000 signatures on it.

It's unclear if Governor Walz would look at this petition seriously or not, but it's clear right now that 11,000+ people feel strongly enough to put up a monument to not only a Minnesotan at the Capitol but a Minnesotan of color.