COLUMBUS – Symbols of oppression and racism — including the Confederacy and Christopher Columbus — have again become national flash-points in the wake of the death of a black man at hands of police and the resulting days of protesting in large cities and small towns across the country.
Since the death of George Floyd, a black man who died after a white Minneapolis officer pressed his knee into his neck, protesters against racism have targeted Confederate monuments in multiple cities, and some state officials are considering taking them down.
A measure put forth by a Democratic lawmaker from Cleveland to ban Confederate-themed merchandise from local and county fairs in Ohio was defeated in the Republican-controlled House Wednesday.
“The Confederate flag is a banner of white supremacy and a reminder of our nation’s original sin of slavery. That Republicans in the Ohio House cannot bring themselves to vote to condemn and prohibit these displays of white supremacy and outright racism at our local and county exhibitions—the places where we go to celebrate the best of Ohio—is a real shame, and a black eye on this institution. If we don’t stand up to white supremacists, we stand with them,” said Rep. Juanita Brent, whose amendment to a bill governing fairs amid the COVID-19 pandemic prohibited the sale, display, possession or distribution of Confederate memorabilia at local and county fairs.
Such memorabilia has been banned at the Ohio State Fair since 2015.
Brent offered the amendment during a meeting of the House Agriculture and Rural Development Committee but it was voted down.
Christopher Columbus, the first European to land in America, is not faring well either. The explorer enslaved Caribbean native Americans after he landed in 1492.
Columbus is the largest of 17 cities in the United States named in his honor.
Protesters pulled down a statute of Columbus outside the Minnesota State Capitol in St. Paul. A statue of Columbus in Richmond was torn down by protesters, set on fire and then submerged in a lake. Another was pulled down in Boston.