The statue « explicitly depicts black and indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior, » according to New York Mayor Bill de Blasio.
Today the American Museum of Natural History announced that it will remove the bronze statue of Theodore Roosevelt that has loomed over the front steps on Central Park West since 1940. The statue portrays Roosevelt on horseback and flanked by a Native American man and an African man.
The decision to remove the statue was proposed by the museum and agreed to by New York City. It comes amid a nationwide conversation about racism spurred on by the killing of George Floyd.
For years, activists have objected to the Roosevelt statue, saying that it symbolizes a legacy of colonial expansion and racial discrimination.
