The statue to Teddy Roosevelt has greeted visitors of NYC’s Museum of Natural History for nearly a century, but it’s now set to be removed at the command of the museum.
On Sunday, the news broke that a statue of the great trust-busting President that has stood at the foot of the entrance doors since 1940 will soon be coming down.
For those not familiar with the statue, the sculpture shows Teddy, who was once 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.
According to TMZ, Mayor Bill de Blasio says the museum asked the City for permission to remove the statue citing that “it explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior.” Again, “It is the right decision and the right time to remove this problematic statue,” he added.
Meanwhile, the statue has been problematic for a while now. Some people view it as promoting imperialism and colonization, which was alive and well documented in Teddy’s day.
The museum equally confirmed 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.”
As Teddy Roosevelt is officially out, another historic statue in the nation’s Capitol, is currently targeted and may as well be very next up for removal. Out in D.C., the Emancipation Statue featuring Honest Abe is being discussed as the next to go because of racial insensitivity.
In the statue, the sculpture shows a slave below Abe breaking free from his shackles, with AL hovering above him. At this time, the petition’s circulating to remove it.
