By Jake Dima
The Boston mayor is considering removing a statue that features Abraham Lincoln and a freed slave after a petition circulated the city.
Democratic Boston Mayor Marty Walsh’s office said in a statement that he’s “going to take time to assess the historic meaning of the statue” and possibly recommission it. A 7,000-signature petition has urged city officials to remove the sculpture that they deem to be misleading, according to WCVB 5.
A statue of Abraham Lincoln standing by Archer Alexander, who is kneeling at Lincoln’s feet with broken shackles around his wrists.
The relic features Lincoln standing with his hand above an unshackled free black man with the inscription “a race set free.” To some, this is a tribute of Lincoln’s policies, but to others it’s derogatory.
“It says that it’s a statue that’s supposed to represent freedom. But, to me, it represents submissiveness,” Tory Bullock, the creator of the petition, told WCVB 5. “It represents: ‘Know your place, because that’s where you belong.’”
The statue in question has been vandalized several times over the past week, following nationwide demonstrations against the death of George Floyd, who died after a police officer knelt on his neck for over eight minutes, viral video shows. A Christopher Columbus statue was beheaded in Beantown last week as well, the local outlet reported.
The Lincoln monument was unveiled in 1876 and has been standing tall ever since. Frederick Douglass, a prolific civil rights activist of the time, hailed the creation of the statue when it was first placed in Boston.
Douglass described the statue at its unveiling ceremony in 1876 as “a monument of enduring granite and bronze, in every line, feature, and figure of which the men of this generation may read, and those of after-coming generations may read, something of the exalted character and great works of Abraham Lincoln, the first martyr President of the United States.”
Walsh has declared racism “a public health crisis” in the city of Boston following protests.
Today I am declaring racism a public health crisis in the @CityofBoston. The health impacts of historic and systemic racism are clear in our #COVID19 case numbers, and the impacts go far beyond the current crisis. pic.twitter.com/KO18NKMnjC
— Mayor Marty Walsh (@marty_walsh) June 12, 2020
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Perhaps the petition signers advocate a return to the pre-Lincoln status?
This is insane. One can’t help but wonder how much longer slavery would have lasted if it weren’t for the Great Emancipator. Those in favor of removing President’s statue are nuts!!!
Just another ploy to cover up the fact that is was the democrats that fought to keep slaves. If democrats can erase the fact that a Republican president abolished slavery, then the democrats will try to re-write history to say that the democrats freed the slaves. The southern democrats formed the KKK following the civil war in revolt against President Lincoln’s actions. The KKK tortured and killed freed slaves and northern sympathizers. Following Lincoln’s assassination, democrat VP Andrew Johnson did not discourage the southern KKK from performing their dastardly tasks.
What’s next for these “snowflakes”? Will they find offense at the “whiteness” of seagulls?
All meant to divide not unite.
One would think that this statue should be 100 feet tall, showing a free man !!
You cannot erase history, yes slavery was bad and President Lincoln changed
the country with his ‘Emancipation Act ” ………………
Thankless fools, just think where we would be today, yes think about it, we can
learn from history, but you cannot erase it.