Junipero Serra statue pulled down in San Francisco

Posted: Jun 22, 2020 / 08:42 AM PDT

Updated: Jun 22, 2020 / 08:42 AM PDT

SAN FRANCISCO (KRON) – The San Francisco Archdiocese is responding to the toppling of the St. Junipero Serra statue in San Francisco.

A letter posted on the archdiocese website says in part:

“The memorialization of historic figures merits an honest and fair discussion as to how and to whom such honor should be given. But here, there was no such rational discussion; it was mob rule, a troubling phenomenon that seems to be repeating itself throughout the country.”
San Francisco Archdiocese

Sierra’s legacy is controversial in that he used a lot of Native American and American Indian labor to build his missions.

KRON4 spoke to those in attendance at the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Assumption regarding their take on the toppling of the statue, with some disagreeing with the manner in which it was removed and other saying its removal could have been done differently.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed wrote in part, “There is very real pain in this country rooted in our history of slavery and oppression, especially against African Americans and indigenous people. I know that pain all too well, but the damage done to our park went far beyond just the statues that were torn down, and included significant damage to Golden Gate Park.”

She also added that every dollar spent cleaning up the vandalism is funding taken away from actually supporting the community.