An advisory board convened by Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser recommended this week that the Washington Monument and Jefferson Memorial be removed because of their “racist” past.
This July, I tasked the DCFACES Working Group with evaluating public spaces to ensure the namesake’s legacy is consistent with #DCValues.
They have delivered the report, and I look forward to reviewing and advancing their recommendations.
Learn more: https://t.co/VpUZf4HcZB pic.twitter.com/tj889EQmdD
— Mayor Muriel Bowser (@MayorBowser) September 1, 2020
The board, called the District of Columbia Facilities and Commemorative Expressions (DCFACES), recommended that Bowser “remove, relocate, or contextualize” the Washington Monument, along with several other famous memorials and statues, because of “disqualifying histories.”
“Our decision-making prism focused on key disqualifying histories, including participation in slavery, systemic racism, mistreatment of, or actions that suppressed equality for, persons of color, women and LGBTQ communities and violation of the DC Human Right Act,” the report reads.
The group recommends replacing such monuments with those that honor women, people of color and members of the LGBTQ community.
Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt rebuked the suggestion on Twitter, telling Mayor Bowser that the removal of these monuments and statues was “never going to happen.”
Not on my watch. Never going to happen. https://t.co/WdSQx3ZCes pic.twitter.com/xHKekThBAA
— Secretary David Bernhardt (@SecBernhardt) September 1, 2020
Photo by Daniel Schwen