Councilors of Latino and black origin had already timidly requested it for some years
The New York City Council approved this Monday to remove the statue of Thomas Jefferson that had presided over the boardroom for more than 100 years, expelling one of the founding fathers of the United States and the first author of the Declaration of Independence for his slave-owning past.
A New York City Council commission voted unanimously to remove from the boardroom the statue of Jefferson, who had more than 600 slaves and had six children with one of them, Sally Hemings.
For some years now, councilors of Latino and black origin had timidly called for his withdrawal. After much discussion, on Monday they decided to transfer it to the New York Historical Society.
“Jefferson represents some of the most embarrassing parts of our country’s long and nuanced history,” said Councilmember Adrienne Adams, who is black.
The debate over the Jefferson statue is part of a national movement that arose in the wake of the death of George Floyd, a black man who suffocated at the knee of a police officer and who led the Black Lives Matter movement. ), as well as the racial inequalities that the coronavirus pandemic left in evidence, and the debate over whether the monuments of the Confederates should be removed.
The plaster statue, modeled after the bronze Jefferson on display in the Capitol Rotunda in Washington, was commissioned in 1833 by Uriah P. Levy, the first Jewish Commodore in the U.S. Navy, to commemorate the support of one of the fathers of the Nation to religious freedom in the armed forces.
.
#York #City #Council #removes #Thomas #Jefferson #statue