The people of Minnesota are pretty smart. They’ve created a petition to have a Christopher Columbus statue with a monument to Prince. Besides the fact that Columbus never actually discovered this country, there are so many other reasons that the Minnesotans have listed as really good reasons for making this happen per Complex.
“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,” Melekin writes. “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.” At the time of this article’s publication, the petition—which has recently received a great dealof media attention—had garnered more than 3,000 signatures and a wave of supportive comments.
“Did Christopher Columbus drop a 13x platinum album?” one signee noted. “No. No he did not.”
Another signee made a more direct comparison: “so a genocidal maniac or an actual Minnesotan who did a lot for the state? Come on. It’s the choice between love and hate.”
This needs to happen like yesterday, so let’s help the Minnesotans in making this happen by signing the petition.