Charleston officials vote to remove statue of slavery advocate John C. Calhoun


The city council in Charleston, South Carolina, voted unanimously on Tuesday to take down a statue of John C. Calhoun, the seventh vice president of the United States and a staunch defender of slavery.
Mayor John Tecklenburg said this is a "beautiful show of support" from the council, and he was glad they came together "not to erase our long and often tragic history, but to begin to write a new and more equitable future." The statue is in downtown Charleston's Marion Square, at the top of a 100-foot monument. Tecklenburg believes the statue will likely be moved to a museum or educational institution, The Associated Press reports.
The statue has been in Marion Square since 1898, and in the resolution authorizing its removal, the city council said it is "seen by many people as something other than a memorial to the accomplishments of a South Carolina native, but rather a symbol glorifying slavery and, as such, a painful reminder of the history of slavery in Charleston." A port city, about 40 percent of enslaved Africans brought to North America came through Charleston.
The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
-
House posts lewd Epstein note attributed to Trump
Speed Read The estate of Jeffrey Epstein turned over the infamous 2003 birthday note from President Donald Trump
-
Supreme Court allows 'roving' race-tied ICE raids
Speed Read The court paused a federal judge's order barring agents from detaining suspected undocumented immigrants in LA based on race
-
South Korea to fetch workers detained in Georgia raid
Speed Read More than 300 South Korean workers detained in an immigration raid at a Hyundai plant will be released
-
DC sues Trump to end Guard 'occupation'
Speed Read D.C. Attorney General Brian Schwalb argues that the unsolicited military presence violates the law
-
RFK Jr. faces bipartisan heat in Senate hearing
Speed Read The health secretary defended his leadership amid CDC turmoil and deflected questions about the restricted availability of vaccines
-
White House defends boat strike as legal doubts mount
Speed Read Experts say there was no legal justification for killing 11 alleged drug-traffickers
-
Epstein accusers urge full file release, hint at own list
speed read A rally was organized by Reps. Ro Khanna and Thomas Massie, who are hoping to force a vote on their Epstein Files Transparency Act
-
Court hands Harvard a win in Trump funding battle
Speed Read The Trump administration was ordered to restore Harvard's $2 billion in research grants