MOVE TO REPLACE SERRA STATUE WITH SALLY RIDE MOVES FORWARD

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By Miriam Raftery

April 15, 2015 (San Diego) – An effort to remove a statue of Father Junipero Serra from the U.S. Capitol and replace it with a statue of Sally Ride, the first American woman astronaut, cleared a major legislative hurdle on Monday.

The State Senate approved the measure, which must be approved next by the Assembly and signed by Governor Brown before it will become law.

Ride, a La Jolla resident, became the first U.S. woman in space when she flew aboard the space shuttle Challenger in 1983.  Trained as a physicist at Stanford, after her career at NASA she established Sally Ride Science, a local nonprofit foundation promoting science and technology to middle school-aged girls.

Each state is allowed to display two statues in the U.S. capitol.  California has former President Ronald Reagan’s statue as well as Serra’s. 

Supporters of replacing Serra’s statue with Ride’s likeness say it’s time to honor a woman. Ride would also be the first acknowledged gay or lesbian individual to be recognized with a statue in the nation’s capitol.

Serra established the missions in California and is under consideration for sainthood for spreading Christianity in the region during the 18th century, the Vatican has announced.  But Serra’s canonization is opposed by Native Americans, who cite his brutal treatment of native people and the near-extermination of some cultures.

The measure is authored by Senator Ricardo Lara and coauthored by Assembly Speaker Toni Atkins of San Diego, both Democrats. It passed the state Senate by a 22 to 10 vote, with local legislators split down party lines: Democrats in favor, Republicans against.

Ride’s family is setting up a foundation to raise money to cover costs of creating and shipping the new statue, as well as returning Serra’s. It is not yet determined where the Serra statue would be displayed, though San Diego, home of the first mission in the system established by the Spanish missionaries, is on the short list of possibilities.

 


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Comments

Statue

Put Regan in storage. QED. Father Serra is a California icon.