Statues of Junipero Serra, Ulysses S. Grant toppled at Golden Gate Park East Bay Times
SAN FRANCISCO Protesters in Golden Gate Park toppled statues of Fr. Junipero Serra, Francis Scott Key and President Ulysses S. Grant on Friday night, spurring a national debate over the complex legacies of those historical figures amid a broader movement to remove what critics say are monuments to white supremacy.
I’d like to know more about Grant. There are several good biographies of him. From what I know, he’s something of a hero, especially with respect to African-Americans and slavery. He was evidently something of a military genius and he was responsible, probably more than Lincoln, for winning the Civil War, or so I’ve read. I’m also disposed towards Father Serra, who caused some controversy on the campus of my small but undeniably cute university. I remember asking my older boys when they were young if they were learning about Father Serra in their Catholic school, and they told me cheerfully that he set up concentration camps for the Indians in Old California. It was good to get that learnt.