Unanimous Vote Is Final Step Toward Removing Roosevelt Statue

Guinan

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JustSomeBloke

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Every record has been destroyed or falsified, every book rewritten, every picture has been repainted, every statue and street building has been renamed, every date has been altered. And the process is continuing day by day and minute by minute. History has stopped. Nothing exists except an endless present in which the Party is always right.

George Orwell - 1984
 
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Occams Barber

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OB

After more than a year of talk, it’s official: The Theodore Roosevelt statue in front of the American Museum of Natural History is coming down.

The New York City Public Design Commission voted unanimously at a public meeting on Monday to relocate the statue by long-term loan to a cultural institution dedicated to the life and legacy of the former president. (No institution has been designated yet, and discussions about its ultimate destination are ongoing.)

The vote follows years of protest and adverse public reaction over the statue as a symbol of colonialism, largely because of the Native American and African men who are depicted flanking Roosevelt on a horse. Those objections led the museum in June 2020 to propose removing the statue. New York City, which owns the building and property, agreed to the suggestion, and Mayor Bill de Blasio expressed his support.

In 2017, a mayoral commission set up to review city art, monuments and markers had considered historical research about the statue but could not reach a consensus on removing it.

“Height is power in public art, and Roosevelt’s stature on his noble steed visibly expresses dominance and superiority over the Native American and African figures,” the panel wrote in its report, delivered in January 2018.

At the time, about half of the commission wanted to relocate the sculpture, and about half recommended additional historical research before making a decision. Only a few members wanted to leave the statue where it was, if on-site context was provided.

At Monday’s meeting, made public as a YouTube video, Sam Biederman of the New York City Parks Department said that although the statue “was not erected with malice of intent,” its composition “supports a thematic framework of colonization and racism.”

The museum had spent years working with academics and advisers, both before and after the statue was considered by the mayor’s monuments commission. In 2019, that research culminated in an exhibition about the sculpture’s context and history — and how the public perceived it.

“The understanding of statues and monuments as powerful and hurtful symbols of systemic racism became even more evident in the wake of the movement for racial justice that emerged after the murder of George Floyd,” Dan Slippen, vice president of government relations at the museum, said at the meeting. “It has become clear that removing the statue would be a symbol of progress toward an inclusive and equitable community.”
 
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BobRyan

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Unanimous Vote Is Final Step Toward Removing Roosevelt Statue

The American Museum of Natural History’s sculpture of the ex-president, flanked by a Native American man and an African man, will be sent to an institution dedicated to his life.

Your thoughts?

From the Financial Times:

"In 1987 the Soviet Union and Poland took the unusual step of setting up a commission for the study of “blank spots” in their common history — that is to say, sensitive events banned from public discussion or falsified for ideological purposes. The initiative was kept under the supervision of each country’s communist establishment. Still, it was the first tentative official acknowledgment that not just historical events but also decades of silence and lies surrounding them had undermined trust between the two countries. More than 30 years on, the manipulation of history for political ends is returning with a vengeance. In the closing days of 2019, Russian president Vladimir Putin defended the Nazi-Soviet pact of August 1939 and blamed the outbreak of the second world war on alleged collusion between Adolf Hitler and European governments, including that of Poland."
 
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CatsRule2020

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I don't remember the word 'colonialism being thrown around like it has in the last few years. I wonder, will all this removal of the white man's presence from our nation's history stop when it gets to a certain point? Surely it won't go til there is no trace.
 
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Quid est Veritas?

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Frankly Teddy Roosevelt is such an interesting character that that specific statue is a bit incongruous and embarrassing. If you want to take down a statue, this is the way to do it: Calmly and with the consent of everyone. This is a nice change from the silly vandalism of crowds daubing graffiti and pulling over statues.

As to Teddy's legacy:

 
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Nithavela

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I don't remember the word 'colonialism being thrown around like it has in the last few years. I wonder, will all this removal of the white man's presence from our nation's history stop when it gets to a certain point? Surely it won't go til there is no trace.
Statues are not history.
 
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Bradskii

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Some obscure history of the man.

Roosevelt was a lifelong friend of Seth Bullock of Deadwood fame (played by Timothy Olyphant in the HBO TV series). The Deadwood cemetery in South Dakota is where Wild Bill Hickock is buried, next to Calamity Jane and a steep climb up the mountain from there get's you to Bullock's grave. He wanted to be buried on top of the hill facing the one opposite where he's helped organise a monument to Roosevelt. The mountain on which it stands is now called Mount Theodore Roosevelt.

 
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Bradskii

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You know that a new US flag is coming, right? Nothing is off limits.

I don't think you're qualified to talk about flags, Matt. You can't even get yours the right shape. It's square!
 
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Matt5

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Desk trauma

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Bradskii

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[June-20-2021] Macy Gray’s call for a new American flag divides opinion | The Independent
Macy Gray’s call for a new American flag divides opinion

"Grammy-winning singer called the flag ‘tattered, dated, divisive, and incorrect.’"
Macey Gray? Gee, it's practically a done deal!

But that report did mention something that I've noticed in the UK and Australia. In the UK, a white supremist group called the National Front was all over the UK news a few years back. As they were uber nationalists they were always waving the Union flag at their rallies. And showing the flag at a march became associated with the extreme right wing. It took quite some time for that association to dissolve.

And in Australia, we have on our flag (as well as the damn Union Flag in the corner) five stars representing the Southern Cross. And again, these five stars were used by right wing nationalists as a symbol of their 'keep-Australia-white' beliefs. And unfortunately, if you see someone with a Southern Cross tattoo for example you tend to automatically draw a conclusion.

It was a shame to see Old Glory used in such a way during the Capitol riots. I hope people don't allow morons like those who invaded that citadel of democracy to shame the flag your the same way.
 
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atpollard

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Your thoughts?
It needs to be replaced with a statue of a giant "African man" standing on the neck of Theodore Roosevelt with his fist raised in solidarity with the BLM movement to prove that "we" finally understand. After all, the American Museum of Natural History is practically synonymous with American Systemic Racism. ;) [that was sarcasm in case it was not clear enough]

It was a silly statue to a great man that will do well in a new home. It represented NOTHING of Roosevelt's fascination and love for Natural History and the great outdoors.
 
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Nithavela

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But all of this nation's earliest leaders were white and could be considered, under today's 'progressive interpretation, colonislist.
Only under the parody of todays progressive interpretation that you cling to.
 
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