all statues are political

For years, people in Bristol have been unhappy about a statue of a slave-trader in their city:

Jay Doubleyou: bristol and slavery

Residents Of Bristol, England, Grapple With Slave-Trading Past Of The City's Most Celebrated Figure : Parallels : NPR

And last year it came down:

Slave trader’s statue toppled in Bristol as thousands join anti-racism protests - BBC News - YouTube

Here's a discussion on BBC news for young people:

Edward Colston: Why are people arguing about statues? - CBBC Newsround

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Three years ago, a new statue was put up in a German city, paid for by the Chinese government:

Jay Doubleyou: karl marx at 200

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At the same time, Confederate statues were being pulled down in the American South:

Jay Doubleyou: the politics of statues

The questions should be always asked: when and why the statues are put up:

A striking graphic from the Southern Poverty Law Center revealed that the majority of Confederate monuments weren't erected until after 1900 — decades after the Civil War ended in 1865. Notably, the construction of Confederate monuments peaked in the 1910s and 1920s, when states were enacting Jim Crow laws, and later in the 1950s and 1960s, amid the Civil Rights Movement:

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(19) AFP News Agency su Twitter: "AFP Graphic showing US states where confederate monuments are found and a timeline of when they were established https://t.co/SarryFvz8f https://t.co/chgn3O5A3q" / Twitter

There are certain moments in US history when Confederate monuments go up | CNN

Striking graphic reveals the construction of Confederate monuments peaked during the Jim Crow and civil rights eras

Why Were Confederate Monuments Built? : NPR

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The debate still goes on.

This is from a year ago:

Bonnie Greer: Taking down statues is a political act - YouTube

Should Governments Erect Statues? | Cato at Liberty Blog

And this is from very recently:

Following state Supreme Court ruling, Charlottesville to act on Confederate monument removal

General Buller's statue in Exeter stay or go? | Sidmouth Herald

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It's ultimately political, then - with one suggestion being to put statues in parks, when the politics changes:

Perhaps the best example of what to do with unwanted monuments is Coronation Park on the outskirts of New Delhi. On the same ground British King-Emperors and viceroys held their “Durbars”, and obliged Indians of all classes to pledge subservience to British rule, an array of statues erected during the Raj has been gathered from across India, taken down from public buildings and city centres.

'When the politics change, so must the statues' | The Art Newspaper

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Or you could put unwanted statues in a museum:

Soviet troop monuments in Poland to be moved to new museum - BBC News

What To Do With Confederate Statues? Russia Has A Fallen Monument Park : NPR

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It's about political identity - which can change:

Hungary’s Identity Crisis Fought in Concrete and Bronze - Failed Architecture

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West Berliners don't seem to have a problem with a huge monument to the Red Army:

The 12 Soviet War Memorials of Berlin

Soviet War Memorial (Tiergarten) - Wikipedia

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Finally, there are new memorials going up in London and elsewhere - to focus on the work of David Adjaye:

BBC Two - Inside Culture, Series 3, Episode 1

UK Holocaust Memorial & Learning Centre - Adjaye Associates

david adjaye unveils london memorial to celebrate the life of cherry groce

David Adjaye: Making Memory - Design Museum

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