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San Francisco to begin 'Equity Audit' of controversial statues: Concentration of 'White Supremacy'
The San Francisco Art Commission is planning on spending $3 million to begin efforts to remove and replace controversial monuments.
In a meeting last week, senior project manager Angela Carrier gave more details regarding the “Shaping Legacy” plan, a strategy to address more than 100 examples of monuments and memorials that show “a concentration that talks more about power, privilege, White supremacy, patriarchy, and colonialism.”
“We have taken this moment to acknowledge and reckon with this moment of our past, how these monuments and memorials no longer represent the values that we say the city stands for and continues to ignore the stories of communities of color and reinforce inequities in race, gender and culture,” Carrier said.
IT’S TIME TO RESURRECT STATUES OF HEROES TORN DOWN BY THE MOB. THEY ARE OUR NATIONAL TREASURES
The San Francisco Art Commission provided an update regarding its “Shaping Legacy” project last week aimed at possibly removing and replacing statues and monuments deemed controversial. (REUTERS/Evelyn Hockstein)
The plan was described by the commission as a “multi-year equity-focused commitment to critically examine the monuments and memorials in San Francisco’s Civic Art collection.” The first step will include an “Equity Audit” and review of monuments in the collection.
“We will engage communities that have historically been excluded from the discussion,” Carrier told the committee, according to the San Francisco Chronicle. “The work of reckoning, repair and healing is not easy work.”
The project will be funded by a $3 million grant from the Mellon Foundation. It is part of a larger plan called the “The Monuments Project” which will invest $250 million by 2025 to reimagine the public landscape.
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San Francisco began reviewing statues after protesters began defacing them during Black Lives Matter protests. (AP Photos)
“This work requires that we focus on race as we confront inequities of the past, reveal inequities of the present and develop effective strategies to move all of us towards an equitable future,” Carrier said.
The initiative to review controversial statues began in 2018 after the commission agreed to renew debate over the “Early Days” sculpture that featured a Native American kneeling in front of a Spanish cowboy. The statue was later removed.
By 2020, following the George Floyd riots, Democratic Mayor London Breed formed the San Francisco Monuments and Memorials Advisory Committee on statues. The committee later recommended an equity audit in 2023.
A statue known as “Early Days” that depicts a Native American at the feet of a Catholic missionary and Spanish cowboy stands on Fulton Street as part of the Pioneer Monument on March 12, 2018 in San Francisco, California. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)
“What the audit will do is decide which monuments are considered offensive today, and if so, what should replace them,” former arts commissioner Dorka Keehn said in 2020. “A broader question is, ‘how long should any monument be in existence?’”
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Susan Han, senior producer of the public affairs program City Inside/Out at the Seattle Channel, is retiring this month after nearly two decades of covering politics and community issues in Seattle.
During her tenure, Han helped lead award-winning coverage on topics including elections, police reform, homelessness, teen sex trafficking and public health issues such as safe injection sites.
“I’m most proud of my Emmy for a fentanyl documentary produced with Brian Callanan in 2023,” Han told the Northwest Asian Weekly (NWAW). “I’m grateful for all the talented hosts and hardworking crews I’ve had the good fortune to work with, and for all the guests who said YES to coming on my shows!”
Han also co-produced Seattle Speaks, an interactive town hall series, and contributed reporting to programs including Art Zone, CityStream and Community Stories.
Colleagues and friends praised Han’s dedication and character.
Susan Han (center) with Assunta Ng (right) and Lori Matsukawa (left). Photo from Assunta Ng.
Former KING 5 anchor Lori Matsukawa said she admired Han’s generosity, recalling that in 2006, while Han was working at KCTS, she co-chaired an Asian American Journalists Association scholarship campaign with Sanjay Bhatt that surpassed its goal ahead of schedule.
“The goal was to raise $100,000 in five years. They did it in four,” Matsukawa said.
She also praised Han’s persistence in journalism.
“She has no fear approaching politicians and other leaders to appear on her program and answer to the people. Her attitude is: That’s their job,” Matsukawa said, adding that Han “has never missed a deadline in the 500-plus shows she’s done at the Seattle Channel.”
Assunta Ng, founder of the Northwest Asian Weekly, recalled Han’s consistent support during a difficult period in her personal life.
“What can I do?” Han asked Ng when Ng’s husband fell ill. Despite her busy schedule balancing work and family, Han began sending daily messages with humorous clips and cartoons to lift Ng’s spirits.
“Those cartoons often distract me from overthinking and being overwhelmed,” Ng said. “It brings me joy, laughter and surprises. Thank you, Susan, for being a special friend in my life.”
Han said she is looking forward to a break after a long career in television production, though the transition feels surreal.
“I’m still slightly incredulous at the idea of retiring before turning 60, but I’m excited to take a break after a productive and interesting career,” Han said.
Over her career, Han worked at KING 5, KCTS—now Cascade PBS—and the Seattle Channel. She covered major regional developments, including the election of Gary Locke, Washington’s first Chinese American governor, the legalization of recreational marijuana, the homelessness crisis and the local impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic.
A graduate of the University of Washington, Han has received eight regional Emmy Awards and more than 30 national NATOA awards. Beyond her newsroom work, she has been active in community and nonprofit leadership, including involvement with the Asian American Journalists Association, local parent-teacher associations and the Bellevue School District Multimedia Curriculum Advisory Committee. She has also volunteered with the Make-A-Wish Foundation.
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