World dismantles historical artefacts of racism, monuments become sites of protest

Statues, plaques and street signs celebrating slave traders, Confederate leaders and politicians have become sites of protest amid global demonstrations against police brutality and racism.

Let's take a look at them:

Protestors stand in front of a monument of Confederate Thomas "Stonewall" Jackson, in Richmond, Virginia.

General Jackson, who led Confederate troops in several key victories, earned his nickname in July 1861 during one of two major battles fought near Manassas, when a fellow general is said to have shouted: 

A monument of Confederate president Jefferson Davis was defaced during civil unrest in Richmond, Virginia.

President of the Confederacy was born in Kentucky but never served the Commonwealth. His statue has been in a place of honor for more than 80 years. 

However, his controversial statue will be removed as per governor Andy Beshear.

Police officers are seen on the roof of Oriel College at Oxford University above a statue of British imperialist Cecil Rhodes during a protest for the statue's removal, in Oxford, Britain.

He made his fortune from the exploitation of African miners, secured power through bloody imperial wars and paved the way to apartheid with his beliefs and measures on racial segregation.

More than 1,000 protesters converged on the college, chanting "take it down" and "shame on you" to demand the removal of a statue of the 19th century British colonialist.

Belgium’s longest reigning monarch, King Leopold II, was notorious for his treatment of the Congo Free State.

The colonial-era monarch's troops killed and maimed millions of people in Congo. About half the local population perished under his reign. His violent, exploitative policies in the Congo were used to enrich Belgium.Villages that did not meet their rubber collection quotas were made to pay the debt by providing severed hands. 

A statue of Robert Milligan, an 18th century slave trader has been removed from its plinth outside a London museum after officials decided it was no longer acceptable to the local community.

The previously obscure statue, which stands in front of the Museum of London Docklands, came into focus after demonstrators taking part in a global anti-racism protest movement tore down the statue of a slave trader in Bristol, southwest England.

The statue of former British prime minister Winston Churchill was also defaced, with the words Churchill "was a racist" written on it's base at Parliament Square, central London after a demonstration outside the US embassy.