Theodore Roosevelt statue at New York museum to be relocated
Source: AP
NEW YORK (AP) — A prominent statue of Theodore Roosevelt at the entrance of The American Museum of Natural History will be removed after years of criticism that it symbolizes colonial subjugation and racial discrimination.
The New York City Public Design Commission voted unanimously Monday to relocate the statue, which depicts the former president on horseback with a Native American man and an African man flanking the horse, according to The New York Times.
The newspaper said the statue will go to a yet-to-be-designated cultural institution dedicated to Roosevelt’s life and legacy.
The bronze statue has stood at the museum’s Central Park West entrance since 1940.
FILE — In this June 22, 2020 file photo, a statue of Theodore Roosevelt on horseback guided by a Native American man, left, and an African man, right, sits in front of the American Museum of Natural History, in New York. The New York City Public Design Commission voted unanimously Monday, June 21, 2021, to relocate the statue to a yet-to-be-designated cultural institution dedicated to Roosevelt's life and legacy. (AP Photo/Kathy Willens, File)
Read more: https://apnews.com/article/new-york-racial-injustice-race-and-ethnicity-arts-and-entertainment-793690833c05798c76ae2d1d518a546f
= new reply since forum marked as read
The decision was apparently made a year ago this month -
The equestrian memorial to Theodore Roosevelt has long prompted objections as a symbol of colonialism and racism.
By Robin Pogrebin
Published June 21, 2020 Updated June 25, 2020
The bronze statue of Theodore Roosevelt, on horseback and flanked by a Native American man and an African man, which has presided over the entrance to the American Museum of Natural History in New York since 1940, is coming down. The decision, proposed by the museum and agreed to by New York City, which owns the building and property, came after years of objections from activists and at a time when the killing of George Floyd has initiated an urgent nationwide conversation about racism.
For many, the equestrian statue at the museum’s Central Park West entrance has come to symbolize a painful legacy of colonial expansion and racial discrimination. “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,” the museum’s president, Ellen V. Futter, said in an interview.
“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.” Ms. Futter made clear that the museum’s decision was based on the statue itself — namely its “hierarchical composition”—- and not on Roosevelt, whom the museum continues to honor as “a pioneering conservationist.” “Simply put,” she added, “the time has come to move it.”
The museum took action amid a heated national debate over the appropriateness of statues or monuments that first focused on Confederate symbols like Robert E. Lee and has now moved on to a wider arc of figures, from Christopher Columbus to Winston Churchill.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/06/21/arts/design/roosevelt-statue-to-be-removed-from-museum-of-natural-history.html
I think sometimes people dismiss stuff like this as trivial but the brain is continually processing all kinds of visual info (for those who are sighted) and is storing it, whether it happens voluntarily or involuntarily (the latter probably the more frequent form). And those images continue to reinforce the stereotypes and superiority.
