Following a call from anti-racist activist Shaun King, several statues of the Virgin Mary have been vandalized in the United States, particularly in Boston, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles and Sacramento.

On 22 June, former Protestant pastor Shaun King tweeted:

“All murals and stained glass windows of white Jesus, and his European mother, and their white friends should also come down.
They are a gross form white supremacy.
Created as tools of oppression.
Racist propaganda.
They should all come down. ”

A controversial figure, Shaun King had his heyday during the presidential campaign of Democratic Senator Bernie Sanders.

Retorting to King’s tweet, Bishop Donald J. Hying of Madison pointed out that many statues of the Black Madonna can be found in Europe and of the Black Jesus in Africa.

On the East Coast, several statues of the Franciscan saint Junípero Serra – canonized by Pope John Paul II as “apostle of California” – were also vandalized and the San Gabriel Mission burned down. The United States regularly experiences attacks on Jewish, black, and Muslim places of worship. This wave of intolerance has now also reached Catholic places of worship.