Leopold II's statue being removed from the center of Ekeren in Belgium after vandalism
There are people who hate to do wrong things, therefore, will not do it, there are others that as soon as they realized they have done something wrong, they will make sure to make a correction, while there are others even though know what they did was wrong, will pretend it is right, the latter refers to the Belgian government and its royal family.
Years after colonialism, organizations, journalists, and world leaders have criticized the brutal and terror reign of King Leopold II, in the former Belgian Congo but since his reign of terror is today's wealth in Belgium, the government thinks Leopold II deserves honor, whether he killed millions in Africa or not, meanwhile, there isn't any statue of Hitler for killing six million Jews.
I remember writing a letter to both the royal family and then the Prime Minister of Belgium, Charles Michel, painstakingly explaining why every statue of Leopold II in Belgium must be pulled down and streets named after him changed. The royal family ignored me and never bothered to give me a response but the Prime Minister did.
Who am I to tell the Belgian Government or the royal family what to do? However, following the killing of George Floyd by white racist police officers in the United States of America, demonstrations, and riots that spread throughout the world also reached Belgium, provoking them to defaced Leopold II statues throughout the country.
Many couldn't reach the tall and gigantic statues of Leopold but the smaller ones were completely dishonored by angry demonstrators in Belgium. One of the former Belgium king's statues in Ekeren was completely vandalized and defaced with paints and graffiti. The heavily damaged statue has now been removed from its standing place to the Antwerp open-air museum Middelheim.
The question is why for many years the Belgian government has refused to remove those offending statues even though they are aware that they are supporting crime since Leopold II committed a heinous crime Africa and waited for "Black Lives Matter," demonstrators to teach them the right thing to do?
What has taken place in Belgium, after the brutal murder of George Floyd in the United States of America, is something significant that speaks to the Belgian government to begin planning by dismantling all the statues of Leopold II in the country.
They shouldn't wait for another black man to be killed for a demonstration to take place throughout the world, including Belgium before they consider pulling down the statues of the Idi Amin of Belgium.
What has taken place in Belgium, after the brutal murder of George Floyd in the United States of America, is something significant that speaks to the Belgian government to begin planning by dismantling all the statues of Leopold II in the country.
They shouldn't wait for another black man to be killed for a demonstration to take place throughout the world, including Belgium before they consider pulling down the statues of the Idi Amin of Belgium.
