Statues Toppled

 
 
 

Vocabulary

own	massive	monument
deface	role (2)	colony (2)
sight	remove	set their sights
legacy	monarch	make/made/made
anti-	turn (3)	private (3)
statue	spark (2)	labor camp
push	former	plantation
slave	museum	public (2)
starve	inferior	memorial
refuse	alongside	tear down
wheat	superior	tear/tore/tore
set (3)	dump (2)	set on fire
global	venerate	exploration
loot	retrieve	controversy
reign	explain	mainland
pull	trade (2)	pull down
island	kidnap	throw/threw/thrown
spray	placard	distribute
harbor

 
 
 
 
 

Video

 

 
 
 
 

Transcript

Why are public statues being removed or defaced?

Global anti-racism protesters have set their sights on monuments with racist, colonial legacies.

King Leopold II

Belgian officials removed a statue of King Leopold II after it was defaced by anti-racism protesters.

Between 1885 and 1908, the monarch made what is now the Democratic Republic of Congo his own private colony. He turned it into a massive labor camp — and reigned over the deaths of ten million Congolese.

Robert Milligan

A statue of Robert Milligan, an eighteenth-century slave trader was removed from its place outside a museum in London.

Milligan owned sugar plantations in Jamaica. And had over five-hundred slaves.

Winston Churchill

Protesters sprayed the word “racist” on former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill’s memorial.

Churchill is said to have viewed White people as superior. And refused to distribute wheat to starving people in India in 1943.

Christopher Columbus

Protesters in Virginia tore down a statue of Christopher Columbus before setting it on fire and dumping it in a lake.

Columbus is venerated by many for his exploration of the Americas. But his role in killing, kidnapping and looting around the Caribbean islands and the American mainland has sparked controversy.

Edward Colston

Anti-racism protesters pulled down the statue of seventeenth-century English slave trader Edward Colston. And threw it into the harbor.

Colston’s statue is now set to be retrieved from the waters, and exhibited in a museum alongside Black Lives Matter placards to explain the three-hundred year story of slavery.

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Questions

1. The video report was about the statues of great men from the past. Is this entirely true, mostly true, in the middle, yes and no, partly true, largely false or entirely false?

2. Were all the statues of Americans?

3. Because Leopold II was a king, no one dared to touch his statue. Is this right or wrong?

4. Was Robert Milligan a computer pioneer? Did he help develop the computer?

5. Are some people shocked that Churchill’s statue has been spray painted? What was the difference between Churchill’s and Leopold’s statues?

6. How has Christopher Columbus been traditionally viewed?

7. Have the statues of Columbus and Edward Colston met similar fates?

 

A. There are numerous statues of historical people in my city and country. Yes or no? Who are they? What did they do?

B. Have there been controversy over certain statues and historical individuals?

C. Some statues have been deface, moved or torn down. True or false?

D. What might happen in the future?

E. What should people and governments do regarding statues?