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2020, Victor Schœlcher statue is destroyed in Fort-de-France
Event
- has description | a une description
- On May 22, 2020, the day commemorating the abolition of slavery in Martinique, the two statues of Victor Schœlcher located in Fort-de-France and Schœlcher were destroyed by activists who knocked them off their plinths. The destruction was filmed and the videos posted on social networks. The activists also publish a press release, entitled “May 22, reparation through reappropriation”, recalling that the decree abolishing slavery was signed on May 22 following the slave revolts and asserting “No, Schœlcher is not our savior”. The communiqué calls for recognition of the memory of the ancestors of the Martiniquais, and proposes the replacement of street names and public institutions.
- has type | est de type
- contestation
- carried out by | réalisée par
- Two activists claim responsibility for their action against symbols that insult young Martiniquais, and point out that they are not the first to carry out a physical attack, and that steps have been taken to request the removal of the statues by the mayors of the communes where they are installed.
- took place at | a eu lieu dans
- Square Victor Schœlcher, Fort-de-France, Martinique, France
- took place on or within | a eu lieu le ou dans l'intervalle de temps
- 22 May 2020
- was motivated by | le déplacement a été motivé par
- The statue had already been attacked during one of the rallies calling for truth, justice and reparations in the face of chlordecone poisoning, organized alongside actions from November 2019. The destruction comes just days after the May 15 arrest of activists who had taken part in actions against chlordecone pollution. The gesture claimed by the two activists is thus part of several levels of context, in addition to that of the mobilizations against chlordecone; firstly, the context of the rejection of Schoelcherism and the desire to celebrate the role of resistant slaves and Martinican men and women in their own emancipation, which has been expressed since the 1990s; more broadly, the context of the rejection of colonial legacies in Martinique; then, as Audrey Célestine writes, the context of “the failure to transmit recent struggles, profound socio-economic difficulties and the inability to formulate a political project. ".
- resulted in | a eu pour résultat
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The mayor of Fort-de-France, Didier Laguerre, issued a statement condemning the destruction of the statue: “I CONDEMN WITH THE GREATEST FIRM THE ACTS OF BRUTAL DESTRUCTION OF THE TWO STATUES OF VICTOR SCHOELCHER THIS FRIDAY, MAY 22, 2020 IN MARTINIQUE. / Bringing down a statue will erase neither the history of our people, nor the humanism of Victor Schoelcher and his relentless fight for freedom and human rights. / Victor Schoelcher's name remains associated with the great social and political transformations of his century, and his best-known commitment remains his fight for the abolition of slavery in the French colonies in 1848. / It was as a member of the commission for the abolition of slavery that he pushed through the decree of April 27, 1848. / The statue of Victor Schoelcher on the Place Légitime Défense in Fort-de-France was erected at the request of the people of Martinique. It should encourage us, like Aimé Césaire, not to give in to the temptation to rewrite history./ Didier LAGUERRE “.
Reactions from politicians and institutions committed to remembering slavery are numerous. French President Emmanuel Macron tweeted on May 23, 2020: “By abolishing slavery 172 years ago, Victor Schœlcher made France great. I firmly condemn the acts perpetrated yesterday in Martinique, which tarnish his memory and that of the Republic."
In May 2022, five members of the Rouge Vert Noir movement were charged with destroying the statues. - 2020, Creation of memorial commissions in Martinique towns
- is referred to by | est référencé par
- France-Antilles sur Dailymotion
- https://la1ere.francetvinfo.fr/martinique/deux-statues-victor-schoelcher-detruite-22-mai-jour-commemoration-abolition-esclavage-martinique-835352.html
- Martinique la 1e
- Marie de Fort-de-France
- Compte twitter d'Emmanuel Macron, Président de la République française
- Reporterre