The US President Donald Trump opposed the dismantling of the monument to the former US President Theodore Roosevelt, planned in connection with the fight against racism in the country.
Ridiculous, don’t do it! https://t.co/VYez8p9AJh
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) June 22, 2020
On Monday morning, The New York Times reported that the New York authorities agreed with the decision to dismantle the monument to 26th US President Theodore Roosevelt, located at the entrance to the American Museum of Natural History.
The monument was erected in 1940, it consists of three main elements: Roosevelt sits astride a horse, next to a horse is an Indian, on the one hand, and an African – on the other. For many years, activists opposed this monument, which, according to many, became a symbol of racial discrimination and colonial expansion.
The decision to dismantle the monument was taken against the backdrop of protests in the United States against racism after the death of George Floyd. As museum president Ellen Fatter explained, the museum has nothing against Roosevelt himself, however, “the time has come to remove the monument”.
New York Mayor Bill di Blasio also noted that the black and Native American are presented as if they were “enslaved and racially inferior”. The great-grandson of Roosevelt, who is the trustee of the museum, also approved of the demolition of the monument.
Against the backdrop of protests after the death of African American George Floyd at the hands of police in the United States, the demolition of monuments to the southerners of the Civil War began. This also affected the statues of the discoverer of America, Christopher Columbus, whom left-wing activists accuse of genocide of the indigenous population of America.