Symbols to white supremacy pervade our everyday lives. And racist monuments are not just a problem in the Southern United States.

Three bronze statues that stand in Academy Green memorialize historical figures that represent colonization, enslavement, and state-sanctioned discrimination:

Peter Stuyvesant tried to eject Jewish refugees fleeing persecution, calling them a “deceitful race.”

New York’s governor George Clinton owned eight enslaved African Americans.

Henry Hudson colonized the Lenape territory for the Dutch East India Company.

These statues were intended for scrap after a Manhattan bank was renovated in the 1940s, but they were purchased and rededicated to Ulster County in the middle of the last century.

Paying tribute to these men in a public place, where the Kingston community rallies and marches for Black lives, reinforces the traditional structures of power that make these lives feel unsafe in any space.

Let’s call on city officials and others to remove these statues. Then, the communities in Kingston that are most affected by racist violence should decide who is memorialized in Academy Green.

What could be next? Monuments don't have to be made from bronze or stone. What better way to honor our community's history than to improve their lives now. Here are just some ideas for a new memorial in Academy Green:

• Playground and exercise equipment
• Community garden
• Drinking fountains and cooling stations
• Places for sleeping
• Bathrooms
• Accessible tables and benches
• Needle exchange sites
• Food and clothing distribution

#KingstonMonumentProject