Racism Archives - Contested Histories

Columbus Monument in La Paz

Contested Histories Admin — Mon, 21 Sep 2026 08:00:00 +0000

In August 2021, a group of Indigenous activists from La Paz climbed the Columbus statue in an attempt to tear it down. Although the statue still stands, protesters painted his face black and hammered off his nose. The National Police responded quickly and took five of them into custody. The statue, located in the heart of the city, was a gift from the Italian Bolivian community in 1925, on the 100th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. This is not the first time the statue has been targeted. However, after this last attempt, it was surrounded by a metal wire fence while the City Council decided what to do with it. This case study analyses how Columbus’s contestations have evolved in Bolivia, particularly with the emergence of Indigenous movements.

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Ratko Mladić Mural in Belgrade

Contested Histories Admin — Mon, 24 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Painted on a residential building facade in Belgrade’s Vračar district in 2021, the image of Ratko Mladić, a convicted war criminal, quickly became the most controversial street piece in Serbia. To its supporters, Mladić is a national defender, but to many others, he is a symbol of cruel violence, traumatising war and blinding hate. The painted image sparked tensions and polarisation between the authorities, local activists, the general public and the ‘guardians of the mural’. This case study explores the difficult topic of dealing with a problematic recent past, unresolved memory politics, the failure to confront one’s own past and what a society can look like when it does not engage with its history in a critical way.

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ACTe Memorial in Point-à-Pitre, Guadeloupe

Contested Histories Admin — Mon, 10 Aug 2026 08:00:00 +0000

Inaugurated on May 10, 2015, the Memorial ACTe marked the realisation of a vision to deliver a world-leading centre for the memory of slavery in Guadeloupe. However, contested political ‘ownership’ plagued the project from the start and financial mismanagement has also jeopardised the MACTe, culminating in the dismissal of the director in August 2023 and a Court of Auditors Report in November 2023 that uncovered serious financial risks. At the time of this research, Investigations into the misuse of European Regional Development Funds have also been ongoing.

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Louis Faidherbe Statue & Landmarks in Saint-Louis

Paula — Mon, 27 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

On September 5, 2017, a 126-year-old statue of Senegaal (Senegal) governor, Louis Faidherbe, collapsed after heavy rain and winds. The accident sparked a protest among activists and religious communities across Senegal. Minimising the extent of the protest, local authorities restored the statue within a few days, resulting in even more controversy, with debates on social media and in the local and international press. Demands to bring down the statue collided with local authorities’ fears of losing the UNESCO World Heritage Site status and subsidies from the French government.

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State College Carlos Marighella in Salvador

Paula — Mon, 13 Jul 2026 10:00:00 +0000

A state college named after the authoritarian President Emilío Garrastuza Médici (1969-1974) has officially changed its name to Carlos Marighella, a guerrilla fighter against the Brazilian military regime (1964-1985). The current name was chosen after the college held an election in 2013, which was preceded by a series of talks about the historical characters that could be honoured in the renaming. In February 2014, the government officially changed the name of the college from Médici to Marighella after decades of interest in change and frustration over the name Médici. This move has also sparked interest in similarly named schools to also attempt to change their names.

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Macdonald Statue in Victoria

Paula — Mon, 01 Jun 2026 10:00:00 +0000

In August 2018, the Victoria City Council’s decision to remove a statue of Sir John A Macdonald, Canada’s first Prime Minister, from outside the City Hall sparked controversy due to the lack of transparency in the public consultation process. This case study explores how public consultation can shape the perception of controversial statues and how these decisions affect wider goals of historical reconciliation.

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Emancipation Memorial in Boston and Washington

Paula — Mon, 18 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

The first Emancipation Memorial, also known as the Freedmen’s Memorial, was erected in Washington, D.C., in 1876. Funded by formerly enslaved persons, the statue celebrates President Abraham Lincoln. During the American Civil War, Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation, offering limited freedom to enslaved people. Shortly after the creation of the Emancipation Memorial in Washington, a copy, known as the Emancipation Group, was installed in Boston, Massachusetts. Despite the memorials’ nod to emancipation, they have attracted historical and recent controversy for the positioning of the figures, mainly the sculpted enslaved person kneeling at Lincoln’s feet, and praise of Lincoln. In 2020, the City of Boston removed the Emancipation Group, and though the Freedmen’s Memorial in Washington garnered similar controversy, as of 2022, it remains in its original place. This case study examines the power of iconography and the impact of federal and municipal governments on decision-making regarding monuments within their jurisdiction.

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Voortrekker Monument in Pretoria

Paula — Mon, 04 May 2026 10:00:00 +0000

The Voortrekker monument is a large granite building which represents Dutch settler nationalism in South Africa. It was built as an attempt to construct a narrative of Afrikaner nationalist pride, tying it in with a complicated legacy of colonialism and racial prejudice. It has thus been subject to criticism over its place in modern South Africa. Since the fall of apartheid, a counter-monument of Freedom Park has served to re-contextualise in physical space the distinctions drawn between settler and African identities. However, the legacy of the Voortrekker monument remains controversial. This case study shows the challenges of reckoning with the material histories of colonialist regimes in postcolonial nations and the challenges of addressing legacies of racism in post-apartheid societies.

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Rumours of War in Richmond, Virginia

Paula — Mon, 06 Apr 2026 10:00:00 +0000

Almost a century after the last Confederate monument was erected in the heart of Richmond, the state capital of Virginia, a new counter-monument was installed in 2019 by the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts. Modelled after its neighbouring Confederate statues, the equestrian statue of a Black man is a rare addition that serves to re-contextualise a space rife with contested monuments. This case study explores the role counter-monuments can play in the diversification of artistic representations in public spaces.

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Monument to the Flag in São Paulo

Paula — Mon, 23 Mar 2026 10:00:00 +0000

The Monument to the Flags is a monument in São Paulo, Brazil, that commemorates the Bandeirantes Paulistas. A group of colonists explored the territory of the Portuguese colony as Brazil expanded its limits. The Monument, designed by Victor Brecheret, is one of the most significant statues in the state. The story of the Bandeirantes plays a significant role in the cultural and physical territory of São Paulo, and many regard them as ‘heroes and founding fathers’. However, the figure of the Bandeirantes started to be contested in the early 2010s due to the questionable way they treated natives and enslaved people during their expeditions. This case study examines the impact of the Monument on changing Brazilian society and the ongoing salience of its contestation process to the present day.

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