Theodore Roosevelt statue to leave Manhattan - SIPA

"Get out of here Theodore Roosevelt, with your terrible past", could have declared André Malraux (yes there we must clearly have the reference): the city of New York announced that it was going to remove a statue of the 26th president of the States- United Theodore Roosevelt of its location in the middle of Manhattan, because of his opinions deemed colonialist and racist, a measure strongly criticized by Donald Trump. This decision comes at a time when the United States, after the death of George Floyd, is in the midst of a conscientious examination on the question of racism and has reopened the debate around monuments celebrating the country's slave legacy.

The bronze statue of "Teddy" Roosevelt, which has welcomed visitors to the entrance to the American Museum of Natural History for 80 years, shows the former president, who was governor of New York State before entering the White House, seated on a horse and overlooking a black man and an American Indian walking on his side.

Doubtful positioning of the protagonists

The monument, "has long been the subject of controversy because of its hierarchical composition," said Sunday evening in a statement the museum, a famous tourist attraction in New York, located next to Central Park. "Many of us find that the representation of African and Amerindian characters and their positioning in this monument is racist," he added.

New York City has responded positively to the museum's request to remove the statue, which "explicitly represents blacks and Native Americans as subjugated and racially inferior," said its mayor Bill de Blasio in a statement. As the website of the Natural History Museum recalls, Teddy Roosevelt was considered a progressive environmentalist at the beginning of the 20th century, but he also defended racist opinions.

Anger of Donald Trump

One of his descendants, Theodore Roosevelt IV, said he supported this decision. “The composition of the equestrian statue does not represent the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt. It's time to remove this statue and move on, ”he said.

On the night of Sunday to Monday, current Republican President Donald Trump, a fervent defender of Confederate monuments, criticized this decision, which he described as "ridiculous". " Do not do it ! He wrote in a tweet. The New York billionaire recently called for the arrest of protesters who shot a statue of Confederate General Albert Pike in Washington.

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  • World
  • Statue
  • Racism
  • George Floyd
  • United States