A statue of Thomas Jefferson that had stood in New York’s City Hall since before the Civil War was removed on Tuesday morning. This from westernjournal.com.
Thomas Jefferson statue removed from City Hall after 187 years https://t.co/kzEHeGmNb8 pic.twitter.com/NL06oPOxkt
— New York Post (@nypost) November 23, 2021
After 187 years in the council chambers, the statue depicting Jefferson holding the Declaration of Independence was cancelled by city leaders because he owned slaves prior to his death in 1809.
The country’s third president was erased from public view with little fanfare in the Big Apple.
There was no spray paint or smashing. No hammers were present, nor were any masked arsonists.
The statue, which weighs 884 pounds, was quietly taken down and shipped away from public view more than a year after bands of rioters first began going after great American statues and monuments.
New York Democrats attempted to block cameras from filming the statue’s removal, but Democratic Mayor Bill de Blasio’s office intervened, according to the Post.
“There was a full debate, and the Council made this request. It’s their chamber. I want to respect that,” de Blasio said. “Thomas Jefferson is a profoundly important figure in American history, who was also profoundly contradictory.”
“Anyone who owned slaves — there’s a fair critique, to say the least. But he also made immense contributions to this country and to some of the best values that permeate the world today,” the outgoing mayor said.
Erin Thompson of John Jay College attempted to add some context to the statue’s removal in comments to the Post.
“Removing a monument without a public conversation about why it’s happening is useless. New Yorkers all need to talk about who we want to honor and why,” Thompson said.
Jefferson’s cancellation comes four years after President Trump wondered aloud about it when speaking on removals of other American figures’ statues.
