Emancipation Group: Boston statue depicting a slave kneeling before Lincoln is removed

Emancipation Group: Boston statue depicting a slave kneeling before Lincoln is removed

by

“We are glad we picked it up this morning,” a spokesman for Mayor Marty Walsh told CNN in a statement.

“As stated by so many during the public trial this year, we fully agree that the statue should be moved to a new publicly accessible place, where its history and context can be better explained.” “The decision to remove acknowledges the role of the statue in perpetuating harmful prejudices and obscuring the role of Black Americans in shaping the country’s struggle for freedom.”

According to Walsh’s office, the statue has been moved to a storage location until a new location is selected.

The removal comes after months of a nationwide movement to remove Confederate symbols and other statues that are considered racist by today’s standards.
Boston to remove statue that kneels the freed slave in front of President Lincoln
The statue is a replica of one in Washington, DC, and it has been controversial since its installation in 1876 for how it depicts the freed slave. It shows President Lincoln rising from broken shackles in a suit over a partially clothed former slave, according to the Boston Arts and Culture website.

The Boston replica was installed in 1879. It was donated by Moses Kimball, a politician and founder of the Boston Museum, according to the website for arts and culture.

The statue is based on a photo of Archer Alexander, a former slave who “helped the Union Army before seeking freedom for himself and his family”, according to the city’s website. Alexander was recaptured several times under the Fugitive Slave Act.

The bronze statue was intended to celebrate the emancipation of slaves, but some consider it a subject of Lincoln or a display of white domination, according to the Harvard Library.

Although there has always been criticism of the statue, it was a local petition launched in June that was again interested in its removal.

According to the city’s website, actor and activist Tory Bullock started in Boston. It had more than 12,000 signatures in favor of the removal.
“It’s an incredible funeral, I’m here to give a silent eulogy for this piece of art that has been here for 141 years,” Bullock told CNN’s subsidiary WBZ when the statue was removed.

“I’m proud, I’m black and I’m young,” Bullock said. “This image has served African Americans very badly in Boston and now it is stopping.”

A series of virtual panel discussions and short-term art installations will look this winter at ‘exploring and re-imagining our cultural symbols, public art and history,’ the mayor’s spokesman said.

The Boston Art Commission is looking for ideas on where the statue can be moved. People can post ideas or feedback here.

CNN’s Taylor Romine contributed to this report.

.Source