Althouse: Protesters in San Francisco pull down statues of Junipero Serra and Francis Scott Key.

June 20, 2020

Protesters in San Francisco pull down statues of Junipero Serra and Francis Scott Key.

81 comments:

Mike Sylwester said...: There's no reason for a statue of Francis Scott Key to be in a park. It's just strange.

The USA's National Anthem is one of the worst national anthems in history. Nobody with any self-respect would want to be associated with it.; 6/20/20, 5:37 AM
Greg Hlatky said...: I did not know they were Confederates.; 6/20/20, 5:40 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: Thank you Popular Mechanics!

I am Laslo.; 6/20/20, 5:59 AM
Laslo Spatula said...: Evidently we are going to stand by as our own domestic Taliban reduces to rubble hundreds of years of culture.

And we will still consider voting for the people aligned with this side, and perhaps quibble and tsk from the sidelines.

Children of America: welcome to the world your grandparents made possible.

Remember: the future will be in making trinkets and beads.

I am Laslo.; 6/20/20, 6:03 AM
Big Mike said...: Point of information. They weren’t protestors. They were rioters.; 6/20/20, 6:03 AM
Oso Negro said...: @ Mike - I guess in the future, ideas for public art can be submitted for your approval before installation. “The East is Red” is a nice song. Would you prefer it?; 6/20/20, 6:06 AM
rhhardin said...: Mobs think like women.; 6/20/20, 6:10 AM
tim maguire said...: Mike Sylwester said...The USA's National Anthem is one of the worst national anthems in history.

Most people who criticize The Star Spangled Banner don’t know what it’s about. Because they’ve never actually listened to it, they think it glorifies war.; 6/20/20, 6:13 AM
rhhardin said...: They're overlooking trees, which were historically used for lynchings.; 6/20/20, 6:13 AM
wendybar said...: And people are STILL thinking of voting Democrat???? Wow. You must REALLY hate America.; 6/20/20, 6:19 AM
buwaya said...: It may be bad music, but as poetry it is reasonably good.
And the story it tells is compelling, more so than most national anthems.
It has the sort of imagery that connects personally, far more so than "God Save the Queen".

It is a first hand account of a glorious moment, told by an eye-witness.
Not even the Poles have such a thing, no matter the drama in which theirs is embedded.

And Spain doesnt even have lyrics to its own, though the music is vastly better.

The whole song was inscribed on the column of which Key's statue was a part.; 6/20/20, 6:24 AM
Andrew said...: I hope the statue of John Philip Sousa is safe. Will the Marines guard it?

Trump should announce at his Tampa rally the creation of a statue garden on the White House grounds, like at Versailles.; 6/20/20, 6:25 AM
Money Manger said...: Our Buddhas of Bamyan.; 6/20/20, 6:27 AM
William said...: I don't pay that much attention to statues and place names. Half the time they are honoring someone I never heard of, but my understanding of the names I recognize is far different than the topplers. I think a lot of the statues of Columbus were erected by Italian immigrants or their children to honor not so much Columbus as their own arrival in the New World. In any event, Columbus is celebrated not for his dexterity in mistreating indigenous people but rather for his courage in setting off on a perilous journey into the unknown. The terrible thing about the European arrival was not the conquest of native peoples but the spread of disease and that would have happened even if Columbus had only distributed Girl Scout Cookies on his arrival......I also think that many statues of Robert E. Lee were erected not to celebrate slavery but more as gestures of reconciliation. He was the southern general who made peace with Grant and advised his soldiers to lay down their arms. He was a racist and a slave holder but those are not the qualities that the statues celebrate.....Do people make murals of George Floyd to honor home invasions and meth use?; 6/20/20, 6:30 AM
Robert Marshall said...: "Protestors"?

No. "Vandals" is the word you're looking for.; 6/20/20, 6:32 AM
MayBee said...: Let's let them keep going, shall we. It would be racist to stop them and we are fragile.; 6/20/20, 6:34 AM
gilbar said...: how long before we become a Caliphate ?

facial covers for women? Check
ancient statues destroyed? Check
hatred for Jews and Christians? Check; 6/20/20, 6:46 AM
Ralph Strickland said...: Apparently they got U.S. Grant as well.; 6/20/20, 6:48 AM
Renee said...: They went after a statue of the author of Don Quixote, as well. They hate the Spanish.; 6/20/20, 6:56 AM
Temujin said...: It doesn't matter if you like the Star Spangled Banner as our national anthem. It doesn't matter if you don't like the name Francis or Scott, or Key. it doesn't matter what you and your friends think about anything. They do not have the right to play 'Taliban' here in American and destroy all statues of people not born in the last 15 years. They don't know history. They don't understand the time of those peoples lives. They don't understand that all history, the good and the bad, are to be remembered, learned from, and taught to later generations or...guess what happens?

The most hollow feeling is watching our feckless leaders- Democrat mayors and Governors from coast to coast who refuse to stand up for their communities, refuse to stand for anything that is American history- the good with the bad. They refuse to hold up for law and order. They refuse to remove those who would destroy us. They do bend a knee and whine when their own homes get vandalized. THEN they get upset. Or Republican leaders who have completely vanished. Where are our leaders?

Again, it comes down to us, the citizenry, to take care of things. This next year should be very interesting.; 6/20/20, 6:57 AM
Kevin said...: The cargo cult continues.; 6/20/20, 7:04 AM
Bill, Republic of Texas said...: Why ignore the fact they tore down a statue of Ulysses Grant last night? The symbolism of tearing down the statue of the man who lead the army that eradicated slavery is too uncomfortable for Althouse to contemplate?; 6/20/20, 7:06 AM
Dave Begley said...: Not protesters. Criminals. Anarchists. Vandals.

Great comment by Laslo.; 6/20/20, 7:17 AM
Craig said...: Comments that criticize Althouse for not blogging about something are lame.; 6/20/20, 7:18 AM
DeepRunner said...: They're coming for Lincoln and Jefferson next. Then the next piece of wokeness will be removing the National Anthem from sports events. Schools will be renamed to remove the stain of white privilege, because shutup. Until, at the last, the Dystopian Stalin Utopia that libs crave will be fully cemented. Just like the statues they're tearing down.

"...offer up your best defense, this is the end, this is the end of the innocence..."; 6/20/20, 7:23 AM
Craig said...: Why not keep tearing down statues? It's fun, it might impress a cute Prog girl, and there are apparently no consequences.; 6/20/20, 7:25 AM
tim maguire said...: William said...The terrible thing about the European arrival was not the conquest of native peoples but the spread of disease and that would have happened even if Columbus had only distributed Girl Scout Cookies on his arrival

Yep. The devastation of the native American populations by disease was set in motion thousands of years ago when people in the middle East started domesticating animals. From that moment, it became inevitable. No person, no attitude, no movement could have stopped it.; 6/20/20, 7:31 AM
Kevin said...: Anyone can tear down.

What will they erect in its place?; 6/20/20, 7:35 AM
Kevin said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/20/20, 7:37 AM
tcrosse said...: Entartete Kunst; 6/20/20, 7:39 AM
Wince said...: Does taking a knee during the national anthem now mean you are protesting the police, the anthem itself, Francis Scott Key or the tearing down of his statue?; 6/20/20, 7:50 AM
wendybar said...: They are on the wrong side of History. History is going to look down on the Genocidal Democrat party who hated America so much.; 6/20/20, 7:50 AM
Michael K said...: This is why normals will crawl over broken glass to vote for Trump in November,; 6/20/20, 7:51 AM
Darrell said...: There are enough Lefties to achieve the results you desire.
You jumped the gun to let George Soros see the fruits of his spending before he meets his father, Satan. May God have mercy on your Souls, before He casts you into the fiery pit for all eternity.; 6/20/20, 7:53 AM
Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...: will the choice be Trump

... or anarchy this November ?; 6/20/20, 7:57 AM
RK said...: Most people who criticize The Star Spangled Banner don’t know what it’s about.

It's fabulous. Imagine having something one "O Canada". I'd take a knee too.; 6/20/20, 8:01 AM
robother said...: I suspect the motto "Kill Whitey" inscribed on the base of the Scott Key statue may capture the spirit of the "mostly peaceful protesters" better than any of the aesthetic considerations raised by Ann or Mike Sylvester. But, hey, liberals gotta come up with reasons why the progressive mob'll probably never come for them. It's what they do.; 6/20/20, 8:05 AM
MD Greene said...: At my college, a land grant school founded in the 1860s, the Pioneer Father and Pioneer Mother statues have been topped. Apparently the pioneers who crossed the Rockies in Conestoga wagons and on foot had something to do with white supremacy.; 6/20/20, 8:08 AM
Howard said...: Tcrosse for the thread winner. Give that man a cigar.; 6/20/20, 8:09 AM
narciso said...: why are we trying to recreate the pilot episode of sliders,; 6/20/20, 8:18 AM
WWIII Joe Biden, Husk-Puppet + America's Putin said...: The Antfa-Occupy-Democratic fascism in action.

The democrats from Michelle to Obama to CNN to Schitt to Hillary to brain dead Biden all approve.; 6/20/20, 8:24 AM
Jamie said...: "The cargo cult continues."

I've been saying.

What do they think comes next? There's a pretty long string of ellipses between "1. Protest something that might or might not be related to our Cause! 2. Tear down historical monuments that failed to anticipate the overarching importance of our Cause! 3. Demand that all of society support our Cause and the whole tearing down thing, a la 'Silence=violence!' 4. Destroy the reputations and livelihoods of those who don't vocally and actively support our Cause! And if some people's bodies get hurt, well, omelets, eggs!" and "?. Victory for our Cause!"; 6/20/20, 8:25 AM
Craig said...: Does Freeman Hunt still think this is not a slippery slope?; 6/20/20, 8:26 AM
narciso said...: they've gone full akhenaton,; 6/20/20, 8:29 AM
tcrosse said...: Check out the words to La Marseillaise sometime. Blood and gore, but in the language of Molière.; 6/20/20, 8:32 AM
Pugsley the Pug said...: Destroying statues of people who freed the slaves such as Grant and the black Union soldiers show how ignorant of history are young people are. The Marxist educators were free from teaching the history of our country that they hated so much after the fall of the Soviet Union almost 30 years ago. That event allowed the Marxist educators to start indoctrinating fully the nation’s youth without fear of being exposed, which couldn’t happen while we had the communist threat of the Cold War without the parents seeing that threat from said educators. Ironically, if the Marxists take control of our nation from within by these indoctrinated fools, based on the history of communistic countries (which is probably no longer taught widely I am guessing), these “drones” themselves along with the rest of us will become enslaved by the state...; 6/20/20, 8:35 AM
Nichevo said...: Mike Sylwester said...
There's no reason for a statue of Francis Scott Key to be in a park. It's just strange.

The USA's National Anthem is one of the worst national anthems in history. Nobody with any self-respect would want to be associated with it.

Niemöller to the white courtesy phone...Fr. Martin Niemöller to the white courtesy phone.

Thanks Mike, you're a great American. Now let's find something you revere that others don't and write it off because, why not?; 6/20/20, 8:35 AM
D 2 said...: RK - them’s fighting words! The best thing about (my) national anthem is how you hear typical Canadian half-assed-mumble singing of the other official language part by both French and English folks at the hockey game. Such desultory effort, but no one makes a big deal eh.

I am going down to the illegal gambling den under the fishing wharf today, and I’m putting a nickel down that before the end of July, someone will get a column in one of the big newspapers saying hey maybe the Star Spangled Banner can be replaced by something more reflective of the US and not be so divisive. I don’t know if I would put a coin to say the column will mention Jay Z or propose Beyoncé. That might be a bridge too far.; 6/20/20, 8:42 AM
Johnathan Birks said...: If only we'd elected a black president to bind the nation's wounds and absolve it of its original sin.; 6/20/20, 8:43 AM
Biff said...: Ralph Strickland said...Apparently they got U.S. Grant as well.

I was wondering last night how long it will be before rioters go after Grant's Tomb in Manhattan and whether the police will do anything to protect it.; 6/20/20, 8:46 AM
Michael K said...: This is going to be an interesting country by next year.

Cities will empty out and be surrounded by suburbs that are white and middle class black, just like Detroit is now.

Universities will not survive except as "finishing schools" for the children of the rich, much as Oxford was in the 19th century. Why go to Cal State schools to study "Ethnic Studies?"

The destruction of brands will open up marketing for new products. A wave of big number bankruptcies, like Hertz and J Crew, will change corporations.

Interesting times. Cities will be hell holes.; 6/20/20, 8:48 AM
JML said...: Here is a comment from a teacher on my FB regarding a post I had with the attempt to shut down Trump's Oklahoma rally:

"They are trying to stop it because our Covid-19 numbers in Oklahoma are climbing. A political rally is not worth people dying. The riots were at least outside."

The riots were at least outside.

So there you go. No riots are allowed indoors - keep them outside for safety.

At least the statues they pulled down were all outside...; 6/20/20, 8:51 AM
Mike (MJB Wolf) said...: Why are cities allowing these barbarians to do this? They must really want more Trump!; 6/20/20, 8:56 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: I favor leaving the trashed public places be. No rebuild. Leave the broth for the assholes to stew in it. Simmer for one year for each act of vandalism found in the city. Like the carcass at the dry waterhole, it graphically forewarns of the perils in the vicinity.; 6/20/20, 9:03 AM
Achilles said...: These people are on the same level as the Taliban. Both groups do the same things and treat people the same way.

They are evil.

Everyone is on notice.

Electing these people and putting them in power means war.; 6/20/20, 9:04 AM
Ken B said...: You need a tag, destruction of democracy. We have processes to make decisions, and we make those decisions by talking about them. But no longer. These protesters are disenfranchising everyone else.; 6/20/20, 9:04 AM
Orly said...: I see no one has touched the statue of Lenin in Seattle!; 6/20/20, 9:07 AM
Orly said...: I see no one has touched the statue of Lenin in Seattle!; 6/20/20, 9:07 AM
Ken B said...: People wondering about links to the confederacy or the slave trade are missing the point. This is iconoclasm. The point is to disrespect and destroy the symbols valued by others. That is why they also trash statues of abolitionists. It doesn’t matter who or what the monument portrays; it only matters that other side value it. It is an expression of power, disrespect, hatred, and contempt — and it is nothing else.; 6/20/20, 9:09 AM
BUMBLE BEE said...: Kevin... As Dennis Prager says, Leftists don't build... they only tear down. Hold that in mind.; 6/20/20, 9:10 AM
Browndog said...: Kevin said...

Anyone can tear down.

What will they erect in its place?

They tried to erect a giant black fist in Antifastan yesterday, but failed. They hope to bring in a crane today.; 6/20/20, 9:11 AM
Ray - SoCal said...: Agree, If they know about stuff like this...

Gut feeling - press will not cover this, and it will be memory holed by internet giants.

Trump is being ruthless, showing patience, and very disciplined in his response to the over reach by the far left.

He is allowing the far left to discredit themselves, Making the Democratic governors and mayors own the response, and avoiding taking kinetic actions.

While the DOJ is quietly going after Antifa.

A huge trap was set for him by the Democrats using ex Generals and Admirals if Trump authorized the use of the Military, for the “mostly peaceful” demonstrations (with over 700 officers injured).

I wonder what will happen next? The Democrats / Far Left want to keep the US at a boil until the election. 4 1/2 months to go.

And Durham’s inditements are dropping soon.

>Blogger Michael K said...
>This is why normals will crawl over broken glass to vote for Trump in November,; 6/20/20, 9:12 AM
Winston said...: I'm shocked, shocked I tell you, that no one has gotten around to the idea that the political party most closely associated with and supportive of the evil of slavery might need a name change. Yes, the name, Democrat, obviously has to go. It's just a matter of time and will certainly come about after all the statues in the country (and symbols of lynching, trees) have come down. That party name has to be replaced and I think someone in this group will just the one to come up with a replacement, something that is sensitive, non-triggering, and, above all else, inclusive. My money is on Laslo.; 6/20/20, 9:44 AM
effinayright said...: rhhardin said...
They're overlooking trees, which were historically used for lynchings.
*************

Correctamente. Just consider all those sequoias, standing there for 2,000 years doing nothing while all that racial oppression was going on around them.

BURN....THEM....DOWN!!!; 6/20/20, 10:18 AM
LA_Bob said...: Kevin said, "What will they erect in its place?"

Probably a homeless shelter, which they will leave to rot after it's built.; 6/20/20, 10:22 AM
effinayright said...: Andrew said...
I hope the statue of John Philip Sousa is safe. Will the Marines guard it?

Trump should announce at his Tampa rally the creation of a statue garden on the White House grounds, like at Versailles.
*********

Way back in early 1979 I was among the first wave of Americans to visit China after many years of Isolation imposed by the ChiCom government.

In the courtyard of a Buddhist temple we visited were dozens of statues and artifacts. Someone knowledgeable in Chinese art said they appeared to have originally been in other temples and shrines, and perhaps brought there after the Red Guards toppled them during the Cultural Revolution.

The more things change, the more....; 6/20/20, 10:28 AM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: Kind of interesting watching a whole generation self-marginalize.; 6/20/20, 10:31 AM
Freeman Hunt said...: Law and order is over now? Blue local and state governments can't be bothered anymore? In that case, what is their function?; 6/20/20, 10:42 AM
Known Unknown said...: This is just meaningless destruction. There is no symbolism. No point. Don't try to find one. Statues are being torn down simply because they exist.; 6/20/20, 11:14 AM
NorthOfTheOneOhOne said...: Freeman Hunt said...

Law and order is over now? Blue local and state governments can't be bothered anymore? In that case, what is their function?

They think they've won. Truth is the battle has not yet begun.; 6/20/20, 11:34 AM
Kevin said...: Imagine pitching a movie in the year 2008. Barack Obama has just been inaugurated as President.

In your movie it's the year 2020 and the only thing standing between America and anarchy is...

...Donald J. Trump!; 6/20/20, 11:45 AM
Jonathan said...: When do the book burnings start????; 6/20/20, 12:13 PM
Howard said...: Just think of all the red tape avoided by the pulling down of statuary by free marketeer anarchy. Can you imagine the petitions, permitting, environmental impact reports, health and safety plans, public hearings, court battles, et cetera, add Infinitum. These protesters saved tons of time, aggravation, costs, and angst by side stepping the Deep State and accomplishing direct action.

You people should be happy.; 6/20/20, 12:41 PM
lb said...: Ken B at 9:09 - you got that right...I agree completely.; 6/20/20, 12:51 PM
ccscientist said...: During Mao's cultural revolution, everything old was bad. Old people, old art, old ideas. They humiliated and killed old people just for being old. They destroyed old art and books. The Forbidden City was looted and almost everything destroyed so now it has mostly empty buildings. These people are just like that. They want to destroy all symbols of american culture--good or bad. They are attacking statues of abolitionists, of Grant (who defeated the confederacy), of black soldiers who fought for the Union. It is pure anarchy and destruction of our culture.; 6/20/20, 4:02 PM
hstad said...: Shades of the 'Taliban' in Afghanistan in 2001 - "...The Buddhas of Bamyan were two 6th-century monumental statues of Gautama Buddha carved into the side of a cliff in the Bamyan valley in the Hazarajat region of central Afghanistan..." Trying to erase all competing religions or other thoughts but their own. 'Though Control' or is it 'my way or the highway'?; 6/20/20, 4:15 PM
CaroWalk said...: When you think about it, European colonists were just refugees fleeing oppression and seeking better economic opportunities. They were DREAMERS.; 6/20/20, 4:20 PM
FullMoon said...: This comment has been removed by the author.; 6/20/20, 5:25 PM
Bunkypotatohead said...: It's just as well. This is no longer the land of the free and the home of the brave.
Burn it all down and be done with it. The blue cities will starve and the white enclaves will thrive.; 6/20/20, 5:41 PM
Marc in Eugene said...: Crazy Jane mentioned the Pioneer and Pioneer Mother at the University of Oregon. While I deplore the vandals' methods (eight or ten people, broad daylight, security nowhere to be seen, conniving administrators), I wouldn't have minded if the U. of O. had moved Pa and Ma P. to the museum or inside Johnson Hall somewhere down one of those bleak hallways to administrative hell: what's his name, Alexander Pfimister Proctor, the sculptor, was a fairly bloodthirsty exterminator of the indigenous peoples (if only on paper). But as the spectacle continues I'm getting closer and closer to wanting the police and the National Guard to put down the rioters, with or without the spilling of some of their blood. And if I lived in Portland or Seattle I'm sure I'd already be long past that point. St Junipero Serra, pray for us.; 6/20/20, 8:15 PM
glacial erratic said...: What would the reaction be if a group of white protesters pulled down a statue of MLK?; 6/21/20, 12:15 AM