Chicago: Abraham Lincoln statue vandalized, defaced with red paint

Over the Thanksgiving holiday, locals in the park discovered the statue smeared in red paint with the phrases “COLONIZER” and “LAND BACK.” The vandals may have inscribed “Dakota 38,” a probable allusion to the 38 Dakota Sioux members murdered on Lincoln’s orders during the US-Dakota conflict in 1862, according to the Chicago Tribune.

The statue was one of many in the city reviewed as part of a commission formed in the aftermath of 2020 demonstrations against sculptures of contentious personalities. The debate regarding prior American presidents has been particularly heated. A city commission recommended that a statue of Christopher Columbus be removed, but the same commission also suggested that the Young Lincoln statue be reviewed further.

However, Lincoln, best known for his role in the abolition of legal slavery in the United States, has recently come under fire for his role in the Sioux uprising. During the Civil War peak, several eastern Dakota and the United States gangs fought for six weeks in the southern part of Minnesota after four young Dakota men attacked and killed five settlers.
The fight claimed the lives of 358 settlers, 77 US soldiers, and 29 volunteer military men. Although the exact number of Dakota casualties is unknown, Lincoln commuted the sentences of 303 of 498 captured Dakota men, approving the execution of 38 Dakota men.

FAQs:

1. Is it expensive to live in Chicago?
   The cost of living in Chicago is 54% higher than the national average, while utility prices are 3% lower.
2. Who was Abraham Lincoln?
   He was the 16th President of the United States and an American lawyer, politician, and statesman.