eSSay
by William Burg
Teaching moment The statues of John Sutter and Christopher Columbus glorified white supremacy and needed to be removed. But there are other historic places that must be recognized.
Legislative leaders announced June 16 that a statue of Christopher Columbus and Queen Isabella of Spain will be removed from the state Capitol.
Photo by Matt Fraser
erasure and the emergence of a more inclusive Preservation Sacramento, as a citywide historic history of Sacramento. That legacy must include the preservation advocacy nonprofit, supports the people and places associated with those who, until position taken by the National Trust for Historic recently, were seldom memorialized in bronze or Preservation on Confederate and other monuments marble or listed as landmarks. whose main purpose was the glorification of white The city of Sacramento already pursues that supremacy. goal by identifying and preserving historic sites While California has few Confederate associated with communities of color, including monuments, statues of figures like John Sutter and places such as Shiloh Baptist and Kyles Temple Christopher Columbus taught the same lesson—that AME Zion Church in Oak Park. The city is also American history belongs to white men. These considering nominations for properties associated monuments reinforce past trauma, a constant with civil rights attorney Nathaniel Colley. Last reminder to Black, indigenous and other people of week, we asked the city to add the Alder Grove color that they were subjugated under white rule. housing projects on Broadway (already listed as The statue of John Sutter that was removed the New Helvetia Historic District in the National from Midtown was installed in 1987, too recently to Register of Historic Places) to the Sacramento qualify as a historic artifact. Donated by the United Register of Historic and Cultural Resources. Swiss Lodge of California, it was located on Sutter Many other places deserve recognition and Hospital property across the street from Sutter’s should become historic landmarks: the Royal Fort. It was not funded or supported by the city or Chicano Air Force murals, mid-century state, but visitors undoubtedly associated the Modern buildings designed by local statue with the fort. Japanese-American and ChineseThe Sutter statue’s lesson was American architects and sites similar to Confederate monuments associated with civil rights Removing these that perpetuated a counterfactual leaders and LGBTQ activists. “Lost Cause” myth of the statues, historic or These places, and the people antebellum South and its not, is a step toward associated with them, can poisonous stereotypes about inspire and engage the public the greater good of slavery. The pastoral image of with a more inclusive history. Sutter as agricultural patriarch ensuring racial justice Similarly, Sutter’s Fort— and a kind father figure to the and equality. and the California State Indian Maidu and Miwok people he Museum that shares a park with terrorized and enslaved was just the fort—can tell a more inclusive as false, concealing the facts with a story of Sacramento’s early history noble smile. and the indigenous people who lived here The statue of Christopher Columbus and millennia before Sutter arrived. Queen Isabella in the state Capitol rotunda is a Plans to build a much larger California Indian historic artifact, only a decade or so younger than Heritage Center in West Sacramento are long the Capitol itself. However, its purpose was the deferred, possibly even longer due to COVD-related same—a reminder of European dominance over the state budget cuts, but we can use the museums we New World, with California representing the final have to tell that greater story now. We owe it to our phase of conquest via manifest destiny. descendants to share our legacy in a manner that is Removing these statues, historic or not, is a step thorough, honest and inclusive to all. Ω toward the greater good of ensuring racial justice and equality. Some may be relocated to recognize their history and place them in proper context. Their removal is not an erasure of history; it William Burg is an author, historian and president is the first step toward reversing a greater cultural of Preservation Sacramento. 6
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SN&R
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07.01.20