JAKARTA - The Government of the City of New York, United States (US) finally agreed to the demands of 'Black Lives Matter' (BLM) protesters to remove the statue of former US President, Theodore Roosevelt on Monday, June 22. The decision was taken by local authorities, given the increasingly massive BLM movement that began with the death of black George Floyd at the hands of the Minneapolis police.
As CNA reports, the Roosevelt statue has long been criticized for its implied meaning to denigrate the black race. As a result, by displaying the statue, the owner of the policy seemed to perpetuate the racist and colonialist symbol in the memory of US citizens.
Even so, regarding the certainty of when the bronze statue was at the entrance of the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH) for 80 years, it is not certain. However, Americans are eagerly awaiting the unloading of the statue of Roosevelt, who is posing on a horse, flanked by a black man, and a native American on foot.
Based on this, the museum also announced that they were aware of the anger of the BLM protesters. "We have also seen the world's attention and the country increasingly turn to statues and monuments as symbols of strong and painful racism."
"We understand this statue has long been controversial because the composition places one figure on horseback and the other walking on the side, and many of us view the statue as racist," it wrote.
On the recommendation of the museum, New York City authorities soon approved the museum's request to take down the statue. The Mayor of New York, Bill de Blasio believes that it is true that the statue is explicitly racist in meaning. "It explicitly depicts blacks and natives as conquerors and racially inferior."
"The city is supporting the demand for museums. It is the right decision and the right time to take down this problematic statue," he added.
However, US President Donald Trump, who is openly furious with the destruction of the statue of a historical figure, considered the decision to take down the statue as ridiculous. This he revealed via social media Twitter: Silly, don't do it!
Ridiculous, don't do it! https://t.co/VYez8p9AJh
- Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2020
Trump's criticism is quite reasonable, considering that previously the number one person in America instructed the police to arrest protesters who took down the statue of General Albert Pike in Washington DC on Friday. Trump also said the protesters had behaved badly because they were trying to destroy US history.
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