In July 2020, protestors had taken down many statues of Christopher Columbus, particularly, one got taken down in Baltimore and thrown in a river. This was amidst BLM protests and resulted in many statues being voluntarily removed across the country ahead of protests. However, on May 28th, 2026, a new statue was erected of the historical figure on White House grounds by Donald Trump.
What stands out about this statue, at least to me, is the fact that it is not only a replica of the one demolished by protestors, but also used parts of it in order for full restoration. While preservation is very important historically speaking, it truly reflects the message that the white house and president wants to give to people.
The White House X account has posted saying, “In this White House, Christopher Columbus is a hero, and President Trump will ensure he’s honored as such for generations to come.”
That post alone had said a lot on its own, even if the statue was still being planned to be placed. The statue to me represents a more physical message that the president is trying to give to Americans.
Indigenous Americans have been reportedly detained by ICE across tribes during immigration raids. Individuals report unruly behavior from ICE as well during detainment. This has been due to the fact that ICE seems to racially profile those who they are targeting. This is a very interesting case due to the fact that indigenous Americans cannot be deported elsewhere since they’ve originated from this land.
This kind of behavior is certainly not new, in fact, it’s historically accurate to how Christopher Columbus had colonized the United States. Infamously, Christopher Columbus upon arriving in the Americas, had called indigenous people “Indians” despite the fact that he was not in Asia. His voyages had begun the Columbian exchange which ended up harming the tribes more. Though it was John Cabot who discovered North America specifically and of whom gave North America to King Henry.
Despite John Cabot being the one who actively found America, it is interesting that there is no focus on him, or any other colonizer of the Americas. There’s a claim that they want to keep history accurate and true to how Columbus’ time was especially, but if that is the case, then shouldn’t there be more in schools about how bad it was for Indigenous Americans in that time period as well due to said colonization?
The raids against immigrants end up hurting Indigenous Americans as ICE agents continue to racially profile their targets. It is very ironic that there is a push to make America Great Again through this method, but they are pushing out the very people that live here, just like how colonizers had historically tried to keep pushing indigenous people away from their traditional land.
While ICE says their goal is to push out illegal immigrants, to me it is more like they are trying to send a message to racial minorities of any kind that they are not welcome in the current United States, even if their entire bloodline had resided inside of the land longer than their ancestors have.
