Professor Morrison Comments on Destruction of Historic Monuments in SF

SAN FRANCISCO EXAMINER -- Elsewhere around the city, older sculptures were being scrubbed from the landscape. On June 19, demonstrators tied a rope to the cross of a Father Junípero Serra statue. For many Indigenous people, Serra is a symbol of the brutalization of their community and a representation of the Spanish Empire’s colonization of the Americas.

The targeting of monuments like Serra’s was fueled by the energy of Black Lives Matter. San Francisco State University Associate Professor Kym Morrison said the toppling of statues emblematic of racism, conquest, colonialism and white supremacy represent long-term projects and deep-seated concerns from people who have been “excluded from more formal political channels.”