‘Time to move on’: San Jose mayor wants controversial Thomas Fallon statue removed.
Liccardo wants action after residents at a public forum spoke of pain associated with depiction
San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo is calling for the removal of the Thomas Fallon statue in downtown San Jose, marking the latest chapter in a decades-long debate over the merits of the controversial monument. “For the third time in three decades, debate over the Thomas Fallon Statue has reopened old wounds and deepened divides,” Liccardo wrote in a memo to the rest of the City Council. “I am calling for the commencement of the City’s standard process to remove the Fallon Statue.” Barring any significant changes in the factual narrative of Fallon at the conclusion of the process, Liccardo said he will support the statue’s removal. “It’s time to move on,” he wrote. The mayor’s remarks come amid a national reckoning over racial justice and just three days after the city hosted a virtual community forum, which lasted nearly three hours and was attended by more than 150 residents, regarding recent controversies surrounding public art in San Jose. During the forum, almost all the speakers voiced their disgust for the Fallon statue, with many describing it as an embodiment of American imperialism and the repression of the city’s Mexican and indigenous residents. “White privilege calls this public art. My lived experience, as an indigenous mother of Brown young men, is that it’s a painful reminder of the violence against Black and Brown men and women to uphold and maintain White supremacy,” downtown San Jose resident Lidia Doniz said during the forum. The bronze statue depicts Capt. Thomas Fallon, who later served briefly as mayor of San Jose, and another rider on horseback preparing to hoist the U.S. flag in San Jose during the Mexican-american War. Fallon’s ride into San Jose was a little-known event during the conflict that marked the United States claiming California and much of the Southwest from Mexico. The monument, which is positioned near Highway 87 and St. James Street, was commissioned — without any public process — in the late 1980s under then-mayor Tom Mcenery. The statue sat in storage for about a decade because of major outcry from Mexican-american community members. It was finally installed in 2002. Then — like now — community members argued that it served as a symbol of conquest and a celebration of the subjugation of Mexican and Native American residents of San Jose. During this summer’s nationwide calls for racial justice prompted by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis, Fallon’s statue again became a source of local outrage. It was spraypainted with various messages and splashed with red paint to resemble blood on Fallon’s hands, and attempts were made to set it ablaze. Two people were arrested for defacing the statue. At Friday’s forum, community members emotionally argued again that the statue celebrates “oppression,” “racism,” “White supremacy,” “murder” and even “genocide.” Louie Rocha described the statue as an insult to Mexicans. “San Jose, if it’s to be progressive, should have art that celebrates and uplifts all people and not at the expense of others,” he said. “… Enough is enough. Move it, take it down, melt it down, make something useful out of it, but it does need to go.” Yolanda Guerra, who lives near the statue, says she would like to see it replaced with one memorializing Sophia Mendoza, César Chávez or Dolores Huerta — “anyone but that man.” “I see it every day as the continuous displacement in our community of our people, people who can’t afford to live here and people who can’t afford to purchase homes,” she said. “It’s another example of colonization and it needs to be removed.” Only one person who spoke during the forum advocated for keeping the statue in place. “Since when do losers of the war make the rules?” said the phone caller who did not identify himself. “… This is part of the history here. You’re erasing history.” In explaining his stance, Liccardo said he hasn’t seen any evidence that Fallon was a “violent or racist oppressor,” but because the statue conjures up that belief among so many San Jose residents, “we should reconsider what we glorify.” “I can only conclude that while Fallon doesn’t deserve a public flogging, his accomplishments don’t merit a statue either,” Liccardo wrote. “… And since this is a public work of art, in a prominent, public place, we should ask ourselves whether it’s really worth tormenting our neighbors with a daily reminder of an image that they view as oppressive.” The statue, which is considered a permanent piece of public art, will not be removed immediately. The mayor’s call for its removal will have to go through the city’s detailed de-accession process, which includes reaching out to the artist and receiving input from the city’s Public Art Committee and Arts Commission. The San Jose City Council then will make the final decision on whether to remove the Fallon statue — a conclusion that’ll likely take more than a month to reach. Liccardo estimates it would cost about $400,000 to remove the statue. Councilmember Raul Peralez, who represents the downtown district where the statue resides, said he also supports starting the process to remove the statue. This would not be the first statue memorializing a controversial historical figure removed by the city in recent years. In early 2018, San Jose leaders removed a statue of Christopher Columbus standing in the City Hall lobby. The San Francisco Board of Education last month voted to rename a third of the city’s schools in order to eradicate names that honored historical figures with ties to slavery, oppression, racism or the “subjugation” of human beings.