This archive report was first published on 22 June 2020.
On June 22, 2020, amidst widespread protests against racial inequality in the United States, New York City authorities announced the removal of the Theodore Roosevelt statue from the American Museum of Natural History (AMNH).
The bronze sculpture, which has stood at the museum's entrance for 80 years, depicts Roosevelt on horseback towering over a black man and a Native American man on foot.
The museum cited the ongoing movement for racial justice, stating, "We also have watched as the attention of the world and the country has increasingly turned to statues and monuments as powerful and hurtful symbols of systemic racism."
The Roosevelt statue, it added, "has long been controversial because of the hierarchical composition that places one figure on horseback and the others walking alongside, and many of us find its depictions of the Native American and African figures and their placement in the monument racist."
Mayor Bill de Blasio supported the museum's request, saying, "It explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior." He added, "The City supports the Museum's request. It is the right decision and the right time to remove this problematic statue."
Theodore Roosevelt IV, a great-grandson of the former president, released a statement approving the removal, saying, "The world does not need statues, relics of another age, that reflect neither the values of the person they intend to honor nor the values of equality and justice." He added, "The composition of the Equestrian Statue does not reflect Theodore Roosevelt’s legacy. It is time to move the statue and move forward."
However, President Donald Trump criticized the decision, tweeting, "Ridiculous, don't do it!"
The protests against racial inequality and police brutality have led to the toppling or removal of statues depicting Confederate generals, colonial figures, and slave traders in the United States, Britain, and New Zealand.
