Anonymous submission to Conflict Minnesota
This Anti-colonial and Anti-State graffiti was spotted in Minneapolis, Minnesota on the Fourth of July! The defaced statue is Colonel John H. Stevens who was the first Colonial Settler to occupy the Dakota land now called Minneapolis. This colonizer also fought to expand slavery into Mexico on the US side of the Mexican-American War. The graffiti reads “colonizer” as he represents the historic genocide and Patriotic nationalism that continues today.
These oppressive statues, monuments, and sites such as Fort Snelling must be dismantled. Fort Snelling is a historical and continued site of genocide, colonialism, and imperialism as it occupies the sacred Bdote where Dakota were created. During the Dakota war of 1862 warriors resisted the colonial occupation of white settlers and the US Army massacred 38+2 Dakota Leaders in Mankato and captured over 300 Dakota Women, Children, and Elders forcing them to march around 142 Miles to be held in “interment” at Fort Snelling. Many Dakota people were died of starvation, cold weather, disease, and murder at this concentration camp. Fort Snelling also enslaved anywhere from 15-30+ Africans at a time.
We join the call to dismantle Fort Snelling as it continues as a base of Imperialism, Colonialism, and Hyper-Nationalism especially considering it has expanded the occupation to host Minnesota Headquarters of ICE. People of this land are coming together to Abolish ICE, the State, capitalism, fascism, and colonialism. We will continue to dismantle these institutions as well as their monuments that desecrate the land and someday once and for all bring about a world free of these oppressions.
