In Times of Coronavirus, we are waging many wars. Undoubtedly, the most important is the war against Covid-19 though we do not seem to be doing very well. Our forces are not coordinated, and each army seems to have a different strategy. Victories have been few and far between, and in some places, there have been no victories at all. So, the outlook is gloomy (even without considering the possibility of another invasion in the coming months).
The morale of the troops is low. And, human nature being what it is, what better way to bolster spirits than to look around for another weaker foe?
An easy victory would certainly cheer everyone up. Nevertheless, this new adversary must be chosen with care. A few months ago, we underestimated the coronavirus because we thought that it was like the flu. This time we cannot make the same mistake. The opponent must thus be an easy mark. He should be a sitting duck to ambush, a total zero at retaliation, and a klutz that will be much simpler to beat than Covid-19.
The chosen opponent should be a statue.
As any dictionary will tell you, a statue is a sculpture in which the figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Statues adorn public squares and parks, where people can admire them. By placing a statue at a public site, viewers are expected to honor and respect the person represented.
One would think that the life of a statue would be easy, but it is not. A statue is not only fair game for pigeons, extreme weather events, bored university students, and graffiti artists; it is also easy prey for angry crowds and governments desirous of editing national history.
A statue’s only self-defense mechanism lies in its size, accessibility, and the durability of its materials. So, as an enemy, a statue is a pushover (no play on words intended).
In Times of Coronavirus, waging war against statues is a win-win deal.
As we all know, people do not destroy statues because of a pathological aversion to stone or bronze. Nor do they necessarily hate the sculptor that created the statue. Their thirst for destruction is motivated by what the statue stands for or what they think the statue stands for.
In Spain, we have a lot of statues. In fact, the country is virtually littered with them. They represent several hundred years of history, and each figure is memorable for one reason or another. Each city, town, and village has statues of famous people who were born or lived there.
For example, in Granada, there are about 80 statues of people, such as Charles V, Federico García Lorca, and Washington Irving, who are part of the history of the city.
In Spain, there used to be even more statues. However, a few years ago, the government ordained that all of Franco’s statues should be removed. During the statue removal process, Franco was unceremoniously carted off, usually at night. He was then entombed in storehouses, museum basements or other places where he would be out of sight and out of mind. He was not toppled or defaced (as he probably deserved).
Now, in Times of Coronavirus, because of the death of George Floyd, people throughout the world are attacking statues of historical figures that they believe symbolize racism, slavery, and colonialism. In the USA, the toppled statues are of Confederate officers, Spanish explorers, Miguel de Cervantes, and even Christopher Columbus.
In fact, Columbus is now regarded as the father of all racism, and his statues are being toppled, beheaded, and defaced all over the world.
In the center of Granada, we also have a statue of Columbus. On a very high pedestal, there is a bronze sculpture of Queen Isabel on her throne with Columbus, groveling at her feet. He is evidently trying to persuade her to finance his expedition to the unknown ends of the Earth. This memorable event occurred in Granada.
At the time, however, Columbus was the least of Queen Isabel’s problems. She and King Ferdinand, who as a husband was a real piece of work, were more worried about expelling the Arabs from Spain. Columbus was an afterthought. She only gave him the money so that he would stop pestering her and leave her in peace. She probably hoped that he would sail away and never come back.
Columbus had few if any thoughts of colonialism as he sailed off in a fragile vessel that resembled a nutshell. His fate was either (probable) death or the discovery of a new spice route to the Indies. He was just as surprised to see the inhabitants of the New World as they were to see him. He established colonies because that was what explorers did back then.
During his subsequent voyages to the New World, it is true that he was not nice to his new subjects but then in the 15th century, subjugated people were universally not treated well. Back in Spain, the Inquisition was just beginning to ramp up. So torture was the menu of the day. Judging Columbus by present-day morality is a bit like processing William the Conqueror or Attila the Hun for murder.
Now all over the world, statues of Columbus are being toppled. Surprisingly, his statue in Granada has not (as yet) been attacked. Although it would be nice to think that this is because citizens in Granada know at least as much history as a fifth grader, the real reason is probably because the statue is too large, and its pedestal too high to reach. That is a statue’s greatest defense.
For example, despite a (false) FaceBook photo to the contrary, no one in the USA has as yet vandalized the Washington D. C. statue of Lincoln, which is also very large. (For statues, size matters.)
This is despite the fact that in 1858, Lincoln stated that he was “not in favor of bringing about in any way the social and political equality of the white and black races”. In fact, in 1862, his idea was to send freed slaves to colonies in Africa or Central America.
Things have gotten so bad for statues that President Donald Trump, fervent defender of the downtrodden, has recently signed an executive order to protect them. In fact, the situation must be critical because he even canceled a golf trip to New Jersey for this purpose.
Statues are easier to save from angry crowds than Americans from Covid-19. Statues have the virtue of being more tangible than the coronavirus, whose danger he still refuses to acknowledge.
