Template:Did you know nominations/Statue of Hans Christian Heg
- The following is an archived discussion of the DYK nomination of the article below. Please do not modify this page. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page (such as this nomination's talk page, the article's talk page or Wikipedia talk:Did you know), unless there is consensus to re-open the discussion at this page. No further edits should be made to this page.
The result was: promoted by SL93 (talk) 02:38, 10 August 2020 (UTC)
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Statue of Hans Christian Heg
... that the statue of an abolitionist (pictured) was torn down by protestors, decapitated and thrown into a lake to draw attention to their view that Wisconsin is racially unjust?
- Reviewed: Kongō-ji
Created by Another Believer (talk). Nominated by KAVEBEAR (talk) at 20:08, 30 June 2020 (UTC).
| General: Article is new enough and long enough |
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| Policy: Article is sourced, neutral, and free of copyright problems |
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| Hook: Hook has been verified by provided inline citation |
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| QPQ: Done. |
Overall: 
In the vandalism section, it should mention (and link to) the larger context of the George Floyd protests. Otherwise, a reader without background would be left wondering why there were random protests targeting the statue. The hook is missing a period at the end. The passive voice language in the hook can also be cleaned up. E.g. "to their view that Wisconsin is racially unjust." Ergo Sum 21:54, 30 June 2020 (UTC)
I am not sure we really know why the mob toppled and damaged the statues. Of the two citations for the alleged-reason for rioters attacking the statue, madison.com is blocked in Europe so I cannot check it,, Associated Press/Yahoo news does not mention the reason it is cited for. The latter says "it seems likely that few Wisconsinites know Heg's biography". It also says "Protesters said in media interviews that the state and city aren't living up to the progressive values represented by the “Forward” and Col. Hans Christian Heg sculptures that were torn down Tuesday night."
Other sources not cited give other views.
- For example, Channel 3000. said "Protesters say they took the statue down because they don’t feel the state is moving forward", and quoted some of the views of Ebony Anderson-Carter (though the latter did not make an explicit statement of why the statue was torn down.
- ABC News has a headline "Anti-racism protesters mistakenly topple statue of US anti-slavery leader Heg..." but goes on to say "Protester Micah Le said the two statues paint a picture of Wisconsin as a racially progressive state even though slavery has continued in the form of a corrections system built around incarcerating Blacks. 'The fall of the statues is a huge gain for the movement, though I think that liberal and conservative media outlets will try to represent last night as senseless violence, rather than the strategic political move it really was,' Mr Le said."
-- Toddy1 (talk) 07:53, 1 July 2020 (UTC)
- ALT1
... that the statue of an abolitionist (pictured) was torn down by protestors, decapitated and thrown into a lake after the arrest of a member of Black Lives Matter?
I would go with the alt hook. Straightforward and inherently fascinating, whereas the motives of the rioters are too murky to properly verify. Indeed, most (probably all) had never heard of Heg, but were simply caught up in the thrill of destruction for its own sake. I would also modify it slightly to read, "... that a statue of abolitionist Hans Christian Heg (pictured) was torn down by protesters, decapitated and thrown into a lake following the arrest of a Black Lives Matter member?" - HappyWaldo (talk) 10:36, 23 July 2020 (UTC)
- ALT2 ... that a statue of Hans Christian Heg (pictured) was torn down by protestors, decapitated, and thrown into a lake following the arrest of a Black Lives Matter member?
- It would be better to use the word "rioters" than "protestors". "Rioters" is a simple factual description. "Protestors" implies a degree of sympathy for them (i.e. non-neutral).-- Toddy1 (talk) 15:05, 23 July 2020 (UTC)
