A statue of Abraham Lincoln on Monday afternoon in Lincoln Park was vandalized with red paint and tagged with the phrases "Avenge the Colonizers," "Land Back!" and "Avenge Dakota 38," police say.
According to officials, the vandalism occurred around 12:30 p.m. Monday at the "Standing Lincoln" statue in the 1600 block of N. LaSalle St. No one was in custody, police say.
In a statement, an anonymous group of "resistors of colonial violence" claimed credit for the vandalism, saying they wanted to memorialize Indigenous Peoples Day and call attention to the public execution of 38 Dakota men during the U.S.-Dakota war of 1862.
Taped to the statue were pieces of paper with the names of the 38 men executed.
According to Block Club Chicago, legislation to replace Columbus Day with Indigenous People's Day as a holiday in Chicago was introduced in 2019 but has since stalled in City Council. Similarly, a bill that would recognize the holiday statewide has been stalled at the statehouse since 2017.
A report from The Chicago Tribune states that the statue, along with hundreds of other city monuments, were in 2021 identified on a list from Mayor Lightfoot of controversial public monuments slated for public discussion to determine which were offensive, problematic or did not present an equitable view of history.
The Chicago Monuments Committee ultimately did not recommend the removal of the Lincoln statue in its final report. It instead suggested its accompanying plaque be revised in order to add broader historical context. The current plaque describes the architectural importance of the monument.
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“This monument to America’s sixteenth president influenced a generation of sculptors,” it reads.
The statue is one of the oldest public sculptures in Chicago. Lincoln stands in front of an enormous chair in “a thoughtful stance as though he is about to deliver a speech,” according to the Chicago Park District website. There are replicas in London and Mexico City.
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A “brain trust” of community leaders, artists, architects, scholars, curators and city officials made up the monuments committee that reviewed the Lincoln statue. The group also reviewed statues of three other former U.S. presidents: George Washington, Ulysses S. Grant and William McKinley.
In its final report, the committee recommended the George Washington and William McKinley monument sites for permanent and or ongoing “artistic prioritized interventions.” The group acknowledged the works were significant but didn’t tackle the “challenging legacies of their subjects.”
The city created the monuments project in 2020 after the removal of three Christopher Columbus statues, which were plucked from their locations after violent clashes between police and protesters who were trying to topple the monuments. A statue of McKinley was also vandalized that year.
This year the commission recommended the city permanently remove the Columbus statues, saying “the image of Columbus has become a bitter reminder of centuries of exploitation, conquest and genocide.”
Cities across the country have reckoned with historical symbols and monuments in recent years in response to protests against racism and institutional oppression.
Last year, the San Francisco school board decided to rename 44 of its public schools, including Abraham Lincoln High School.
Washington, D.C., Mayor Muriel Bowser created a committee in 2020 to strip names off schools, parks and public buildings honoring those who enslaved Black people. Chicago Public Schools also vowed to rename 30 schools named for enslavers that year.
The Chicago Sun-Times wire contributed to this report.
