«Dead on July 4, 2020. Resurrected in 2022. Reconsecrated by President Donald J. Trump on October 13, 2025» is inscribed on the base of a statue of Christopher Columbus, installed last Sunday on the White House lawn.

Different versions

In the wake of the movement triggered by the murder of African-American George Floyd at the hands of white police officers in Minneapolis, protesters dismantled a monument of Christopher Columbus in Baltimore.

They wanted to denounce the brutal treatment of indigenous populations by the Italian explorer and his appropriation of land.

Donald Trump, on his part, hailed him as the «original American hero»—even though Christopher Columbus never set foot in the territory of the present-day United States during his voyages from 1492 to 1504 and didn’t really «discover» America.

«Putting back this statue and moving it from a rather obscure corner of Baltimore’s Little Italy to directly on the White House lawn is a form of provocation against Black Lives Matter protesters or anyone who sees Columbus in that way», says Matthew Restall, a professor at Penn State University.

American Myth

The art historian has delved into various American monuments and their symbolism. The design of the newly installed statue in Washington has nothing to do with a monument in front of the Capitol that was removed in 1958 after disputes over its offensive nature— the statue depicted Columbus triumphant over a naked Native American woman, he recalls.

First Nations Dispossession

«For a First Nations person, Columbus will never be acceptable, no matter the form; he doesn’t deserve to be elevated to hero status in public space because he took the land without consent, marking the beginning of a long history of indigenous dispossession,» says Mr. Kirk, who would like to see new monuments telling the story of marginalized populations.

The debate is part of a cultural war fracturing the United States. States like Maine, Vermont, and New Mexico have replaced Columbus Day with a First Nations Day. Joe Biden became the first president to celebrate it.

Trump, on the other hand, rejects anything perceived as his predecessor’s legacy and anything originating from the liberal movement. His administration has even requested the removal of monuments depicting slavery.

History professor at Hillsdale College in Michigan, Brad Birzer explores the right-left dichotomy surrounding the question of Christopher Columbus. «On one hand, I think he’s great,» he points out. «But on the other, he’s horrible. And I wouldn’t want to tell just one side of him.»

Describing himself as a conservative, he believes there are «enough good things» about Christopher Columbus to justify a place in history. «Does that mean he should be at the White House or not, I don’t know,» he says. But history should be taught with all its nuances, he adds, without mythifying its characters.

If Christopher Columbus is less celebrated in Canada than in the United States, his commemoration is also contested here. A petition circulated in 2023 to change the name of the Montreal avenue bearing his name.