So the statues are down. Now what?

Protesters have targeted statues and other monuments associated with white supremacy and injustice following the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. In early June, a statue of Christopher Columbus that stood in front of the Minnesota State Capitol for almost 90 years was toppled by Native Americans, who said they had been working for years to remove the statue peacefully, to little avail. Columbus statues in Boston and Richmond, Va., were likewise vandalized and torn down.

Soon, Confederate statues and symbols were on the chopping block. Four statues along Richmond’s historic Monument Avenue have been removed, including one of Confederate President Jefferson Davis that was vividly graffitied before the city agreed to put it in storage.

But what now? Thursday on MPR News with Kerri Miller, we talked about what happens next. What does history teach us about how statues are viewed? Should we try to replace them? And if so, with what?

Guests:

• Erin L. Thompson is an art historian and lawyer and a professor in the Department of Art and Music at the John Jay College of Criminal Justice. 

• Julian Hayter is a historian and professor at the University of Richmond.

To listen to the full conversation you can use the audio player above.

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