A replica of the “Emancipation Statue” featuring President Abraham Lincoln and a freed slave has been removed from public view in Boston, Massachusetts. The original statue was commissioned by freed slaves and still stands in Washington, D.C. although there was an uproar over that one earlier in the year. The statue portrays a freed slave breaking away from bondage and Abraham Lincoln as the man responsible. Lincoln signed the Emancipation Proclamation which freed slaves in 1863.
A local-area artist behind the removal of the Boston replica says the statue has caused the local black community harm for a long time and that it’s past time to go. A Boston University professor by the name of Raul Fernandez says that the statue depicts a subservient black man being used as a prop to uplift a white savior. A petition to remove the statue was circulated and more than 12,000 signatures were collected.
Abraham Lincoln has somehow been a controversial figure lately. A school in San Francisco named after Lincoln recently voted to change it’s name. A few months ago, statues of both Abraham Lincoln and Theodore Roosevelt were vandalized and toppled in Oregon. Vandals scrawled “1619” and “Big Floyd” on the base of the Lincoln statue in that particular incident. Other figures throughout history including George Washington and Thomas Jefferson have also been targeted. All of this has happened after the green light was given on Confederate monuments, statues, pictures, and even gravesites.
SOURCES:
‘Emancipation Group’ statue removed from Boston’s Park Square
Lincoln Emancipation statue is removed in Boston, remains in D.C. – The Washington Post
‘It’s An Amazing Funeral,’ Emancipation Group Statue Removed From Boston’s Park Square – CBS Boston
Abraham Lincoln, once a hero, is now a bad guy in some S.F. education circles – SFChronicle.com
‘Emancipation Group’ statue removed from Boston’s Park Square
A bust of Breonna Taylor was damaged in an apparent act of vandalism – CNN
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