On the getting rid of statues of people considered persona non grata in the era of BLM

As a lover of history, I definitely don't like the destruction of these statues.  I understand the negative feelings these statues arouse in a large proportion of the world's population, but why must we destroy these works of art?  Why not remove them to a museum and name that museum,  something like "Museum of Horrors" or similar?  I believe, as matters stand today, June 11, 2020, there are lists being drawn up to rename thousands of streets the world over, streets that were dedicated to slave traders and anyone the BIPOC (Black Indigenous People of Color)  movement deemed unsavory.

Below, stuff on the statues and street names uproar :

UPDATE: The statue of slave trader Robert Milligan has now been removed from West India Quay.

It’s a sad truth that much of our wealth was derived from the slave trade - but this does not have to be celebrated in our public spaces. #BlackLivesMatterpic.twitter.com/ca98capgnQ

— Sadiq Khan (@SadiqKhan) June 9, 2020

 London Removes Slave Trader Statue
A statue of Robert Milligan, an 18th century slave trader, was removed from its plinth outside a London museum on Tuesday after global anti-racism protests triggered a debate about how Britain commemorates its imperial past.
Statues glorifying slave traders and colonialists have come into sharp focus in recent days, as part of a broader movement inspired by the Black Lives Matter protests that started in the United States following the death of George Floyd.
“While it’s a sad truth that much of our city and nation’s wealth was derived from the slave trade, this does not have to be celebrated in our public spaces,” said London Mayor Sadiq Khan in a tweet with a photo of the statue.
Earlier, Khan ordered a review of statues and street names across London, in response to mass protests in the city and elsewhere......

  Confederate Statues Taken Down Across the Nation
Confederate statues are coming down across the country. Some have been removed by order, while others have been toppled by force.
On Wednesday, a monument depicting four generic Confederate service members in Portsmouth, Virginia was the latest target.....

Rename Dundas Street? #Toronto https://t.co/RHXMqqCjlo

— Castanet (@CastanetNews) June 10, 2020

 

  Watch: Statues under attack as Europe confronts colonial past
One was torn down and thrown in a river. Another set alight. Many more daubed in graffiti.
Statues are under attack, and the debate over monuments to controversial figures of the past has been thrust into the limelight in the fallout from the death of George Floyd and the impassioned protest movement it spawned across the world.
And while defenders of statues dedicated to slave traders and colonists argue you cannot “erase history”, authorities appear to be starting to listen to the protesters that say they are an everyday reminder of racism and subjugation.
In the widespread racial justice protests that have spread from Minneapolis in the US where George Floyd died, activists have been targeting statues and monuments. In the English city of Bristol, a statue of slave trader Edward Colston was toppled by a crowd and thrown into the river - a symbolic act according to Bristol’s mayor Marvin Rees.....
 

Black lawmakers unveil bill to remove Confederate statues from Capitol https://t.co/Ox3A7FusXw pic.twitter.com/F0rFZhgdFe

— The Hill (@thehill) June 11, 2020

  Belgians demand removal of King Leopold II statues
Thousands of people in Belgium are demanding the removal of statues celebrating the reign of the nation's former ruler, King Leopold II, as the country faces up to its controversial past.
In Antwerp, a statue of Leopold has been taken down after it was repeatedly vandalized during Black Lives Matters protests, which have taken place across Europe in the aftermath of the death of black American George Floyd, who was killed by a white police officer in the U.S..
But for many that isn't enough. All over Belgium, roads, squares, statues and other public monuments are named after the monarch, who ruled the country between 1865 and 1909, but his reign has now come under scrutiny, notably his role in the deaths of 10 million people.......

Guy's and St Thomas' hospitals in London have said they will remove two statues linked to slavery in response to anti-racism protests across the UK https://t.co/3EGeZR0DlJ

— SkyNews (@SkyNews) June 11, 2020

  
 
 Statues Fall as Countries Confront their Racist History

London/Washington: With a mix of pent-up fury and sudden elation, the protesters who toppled a bronze statue of the 17th-century slave trader, Edward Colston, in the UK’s Bristol, recalled the angry crowds that brought down statues of Saddam Hussain, Stalin and even King George III.

But when these demonstrators dumped the monument of Colston into Bristol Harbor with a splash, they also forced Britain to consider how to confront its racist history at a moment when many of the same questions are being asked in the US and elsewhere in Europe. So a more precise parallel to London’s events, perhaps, is not Saddam or Stalin, but the removal of statues of Confederate generals in city squares across the......

This from September 2018
   Statue Wars
ape Town was the first. In March 2015, a student named Chumani Maxwele brought a bucket filled with shit to the University of Cape Town, where there stood a statue of Cecil Rhodes, the British diamond magnate, colonial politician and avowed white supremacist. “There is no collective history here – where are our heroes and ancestors?” Maxwele announced. He splashed the contents of the bucket over the monument. The incident attracted national attention and within days had grown into a full-scale protest. Students covered the Rhodes statue with graffiti and plastic bags, and promised to demonstrate until it was removed. The statue.....