Bearing witness to the historic reckoning with systemic racism, and amplifying dialogue to drive change that delivers on the promise of racial equality.
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“I think there's an obligation that the government protect those monuments, because they're different,” he said. “They may have things in the past that are now, and then, distasteful, but… taking down toppling Christopher Columbus statue, or a George Washington statue, et cetera, I think that is something that the government has an opportunity and responsibility to protect.”As Black Lives Matter protests have broken out across the nation, in many cities people have vandalized or torn down statues of Confederate leaders as well as other controversial historical figures. In both Richmond and San Francisco, protestors targeted statues of Christopher Columbus, who has long been revered for being one of the first Europeans to explore much of the Americas but whose history of genocidal butchery against local peoples had been largely overlooked in the history books until recent years.Biden said private institutions can do whatever they want, like Princeton University’s decision to drop former President Woodrow Wilson’s name from their graduate school for his racist views.“I think there's an obligation that the government protect those monuments, because they're different.”
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