A statue of Teddy Roosevelt that has greeted visitors for nearly a century at NYC’s Museum of Natural History is set to be removed … at the behest of the museum.
Honchos at the AMNH broke the news Sunday, saying a statue of the great trust-busting President that has stood at the foot of the entrance doors since 1940 will soon be gone.
In case you haven’t seen it, the sculpture shows Teddy — who once served as Governor of New York — on horseback, with a Native American man on one side, and an African man on the other … both of whom are below him.
Mayor Bill de Blasio says the museum asked the City for permission to remove the statue, because … “it explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior.” He added, “It is the right decision and the right time to remove this problematic statue.” It goes without saying … New York’s City Council has approved the request.
The statue has been a hot-button issue for a while — some folks saw it as promoting imperialism and colonization … which was alive and well in Teddy’s day.
The museum justified the move, explaining … “Over the last few weeks, our museum community has been profoundly moved by the ever-widening movement for racial justice that has emerged after the killing of George Floyd.” They added, “We have watched as the attention of the world and the country has increasingly turned to statues as powerful and hurtful symbols of systemic racism. Simply put, the time has come to move it.”
While Teddy’s officially out … another historical statue in our nation’s Capitol, no less, is currently on the hot seat — and may very well be the next slated for removal, unless protesters get to it first. Out in D.C., the Emancipation Statue featuring Honest Abe is being discussed as the next to go … because of racial insensitivity.
There’s a slave below Abe breaking free from his shackles, with AL hovering above him. A petition’s circulating to remove it.
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