One thing I love about Detroit is the unity, respect, and trust with our law enforcement and city officials transparent relationship with their city residents. Once again, Detroit has spoken, and for the second time during the Duggan administration officials are listening.
Today (Monday, June 15th) Detroit Mayor Mike Duggan ordered the removal of the Christopher Columbus bust, as protests against racism and police brutality continue in the city. “When I looked at some of the violence around the country, and in particular you got people with arms gathering around a Columbus statue in Philadelphia arguing with people. I thought we don’t need this. We should have a conversation as a community as to what is an appropriate place for such a statue,” said Duggan at a press conference. The removed bust will be placed in storage as the city decides what to do with it next.
In 2019, Duggan pressed to rename Detroit's convention center name from Cobo Hall to the TCF Center. Cobo is linked to former Detroit Mayor, Albert Cobo, who was known as a racist for policies he put in place to displace blacks. “I just didn’t think our convention center a national symbol of the city should be named after someone who really did a lot to make the lives of African Americans worse in the city of Detroit,” he said.