‘Racist’ statue in Catholic churchyard in Ghana provokes backlash
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A statue of a white angel standing on a black demon in a southern Ghana churchyard has sparked a backlash on social media, with many stating it reinforces racist stereotypes.
A photo of the statue, which stands in a Roman Catholic churchyard in Tepa, in the Ashanti region in southern Ghana, was shared on Facebook on March 25 by local resident Yaw Amoffaya Antwi. In his post, Antwi called the statue "disgusting" and added, "Satan is black [and] the angel is white. Mental slavery."
Some users on social media accused the statue's sculptor of advocating white supremacist ideology. “This needs to come down, not [be] repainted,” read one post.
"Let’s start the campaign. Paint all Jesus statues in Ghana black, or pull them down! You can still keep your Christianity, but racism is against the law!” commented another Facebook user.
This is not the first time that a statue has sparked controversy in Ghana. In December 2018, students at the University of Ghana pulled down a statue of Gandhi, whom they said considered Africans “inferior” and referred to them as “savages” in some of his writings.
This story was written by Djamel Belayachi.