Teddy Roosevelt statue in front of the American Museum of Natural History in NYC being dismantled today. pic.twitter.com/SCzAWlSbZA
— 🇺🇸🦅M💥A💥G💥A🦅🇺🇲 (@BlessUSA45) September 15, 2020
A statue of former President Teddy Roosevelt, which stood in front of NYC’s American Museum Of Natural History since 1940, is being dismantled this week.
The “hierarchical composition” is the reason for the decision to remove the statue, museum’s president Ellen V. Futter told The New York Times back in June when the decision was officially made. The demand to remove the statue began in 2017.
The statue depicts Roosevelt on horseback. He is flanked by an African-American man and a Native American man. That symbolizes a painful history of racism and colonialism, activists say.
Ironically, Roosevelt is considered by many to be one of the most progressive U.S. presidents ever and a strong environmentalist. He went after big corporations, earning a reputation as a “trust buster,” established the Food and Drug Administration and significantly expanded the country’s system of national parks and forests.