(WWJ/AP) The city of Detroit has removed a bust of explorer Christopher Columbus from its prominent downtown location.
Mayor Mike Duggan says the bust was taken down from where it sat in the median of Randolph Street, facing Jefferson Avenue, for the past 110 years.
Where is the sculpture now?
"I just had them put it in storage," the mayor told reporters on Monday. "We'll have a conversation as a community, but...like I felt with Cobo Hall, which I pushed hard to change, I didn't think that our convention center, a national symbol of the city, should be named after somebody who really did a lot to make the lives of African Americans worse in the city of Detroit."
After city workers removed the statue Monday morning, only the empty pedestal remains.
The move comes as cities across the nation and the world debate whether to protect or remove statues and public monuments that celebrate people linked to the subjugation of minorities.
In recent days, Columbus statues have also been vandalized as part of protests related to the death of George Floyd.
The Detroit bust could end up in a museum, where it would be displayed within a fuller historical and cultural context — but Duggan said that will be decided with input from residents.
For now, Duggan said he wanted to avoid any drama surrounding the monument.
"When I looked at some of the violence around the country, in particular you've got people with arms gathering around a Columbus statue in Philadelphia arguing with other people," Duggan said. "We don't need this. We should have a conversation as a community as to what is the appropriate place for such a statue."
"I just didn't think this was the right location of prominence. I think, if you've got a spot next to City Hall, that is a place that should be a symbol of unity," added the mayor.
The Detroit Columbus bust was a gift from the readers of an Italian newspaper in honor of the 400th anniversary of Columbus' death.
By the 1990s, a new generation of Native American activists blamed Columbus for launching centuries of indigenous genocide. Although many in the U.S. were taught as children that Columbus was hero who "discovered America," his glorified reputation has not survived the scrutiny of history.
At least thirteen states and several major cities, including Detroit, no longer celebrate Columbus Day.
The Detroit City Council voted three years ago to end Columbus Day as a holiday in the city.