Not set in stone: Statues fall as Europe reexamines its past

LONDON (AP) — From Confederate monuments in the United States to statues of British slave traders, memorials erected in honor of historical figures have become a focus of protests around the world.

The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers has sparked a reexamination of rigid injustices and inequalities underpinning many countries' histories that often were exalted in stone or bronze.

A look at some contested monuments across Europe:

BRITAIN

EDWARD COLSTON — The toppling of a statue of the 17th-century slave trader in the port city of Bristol on Sunday reignited debate in Britain about who deserves a permanent public memorial. Colston built a fortune transporting more than 80,000 enslaved Africans across the Atlantic Ocean before leaving his money to charity. His name adorns streets and buildings in Bristol, which was once the U.K.’s biggest port for slave ships. The statue has been pulled out of the harbor where protesters dumped it and will be placed in a museum.

CECIL RHODES -- The Victorian imperialist served as prime minister of the Cape Colony in southern Africa and made a fortune from gold and diamond mines where miners labored in brutal conditions. He was an education benefactor whose legacy includes Oxford University’s Rhodes scholarships for international students. His statue was removed from the University of Cape Town in South Africa in 2015 after students led a “Rhodes Must Fall” campaign. A similar campaign is seeking to remove a statue of Rhodes from Oxford’s Oriel College.

HENRY DUNDAS -- The late 18th-century Scottish politician was responsible for delaying Britain’s abolition of the slave trade by 15 years until 1807. During that time, more than half a million enslaved Africans were trafficked across the Atlantic. Campaigners want his statue removed from...