A memorial that has stood as a reminder about freedom and liberty for over a century is finally coming down after complaints from racial activists, who claimed the statue carried a hidden meaning demeaning black people.
The Emancipation Group statue, depicting President Abraham Lincoln and a freed slave, was quietly removed from its spot in Boston Park Tuesday after Boston city officials voted to bring the monument down this past June, NBC News reported.
The monument, which was erected in 1879, was moved to a temporary storage facility, according to the City of Boston. The city is now asking residents to help determine the statue’s future.
The removal comes months after a June meeting where the Boston Art Commission unanimously voted to take down the statue after only five hours of testimony and discussion, much of it appearing to revolve around the apparent “racist” message hidden in the memorial.
“The decision for removal acknowledged the statue’s role in perpetuating harmful prejudices and obscuring the role of Black Americans in shaping the nation’s freedoms,” the city said in a statement.
The movement to remove the statue was spearheaded by Tory Bullock, who claimed the tribute to Lincoln’s freeing of the slaves carried a hidden racist message.
After gaining more than 12,000 signatures on a petition, Bullock was finally able to convince the city to address the monument.
“It says that it’s a statue that’s supposed to represent freedom. But, to me, it represents submissiveness,” Bullock said in June. “It represents: ‘Know your place, because that’s where you belong.’”
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The controversial Emancipation Group statue in Boston has been taken down. In June, an online petition called for the statue's removal and in July, the Boston Art Commission voted unanimously to take it down. |
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