UC Santa Cruz has announced that it will remove historic bells from the “Spanish Missions” after members of the community called them offensive.
According to a report by Campus Reform, the University of California, Santa Cruz, will remove a major historical artifact from campus. The reason? Many in the UC Santa Cruz community argued that the artifact is offensive.
The “Spanish Mission” bells were used between 1769 and 1833 to highlight the path of the 21 California Missions, which were constructed to evangelize Native Americans.
Now, the school views these bells as symbols of past oppression. The university released a statement last week announcing that the bells would be removed from campus.
Valentin Lopez, chairman of the Amah Mutsun Tribal Band, encouraged the university to remove the bells. “These bells are deeply painful symbols that celebrate the destruction, domination and erasure of our people,” Lopez said in a comment. “They are constant reminders of the disrespect our tribe faces to this day.” – READ MORE