(DailyDig.com) – The Democrat’s delegate from Washington, Eleanor Norton, has revived legislation to attempt to have Abraham Lincoln removed from this nation’s capitol. At least she is trying to remove the statue of him posing next to a freed slave who is kneeling in front of him.
Even though the slaves who were freed paid for its development, Norton says this is insufficient.
The delegate stated that the patriarchal monument “depicting a black man on his knees” in front of Lincoln ignores the black man’s autonomy in seeking liberation.
Norton’s bill proposes to relocate the monument from Lincoln Park to a museum, along with its history and purpose.
Since 1876, Lincoln Park’s Capitol monument has been there. A shirtless freed slave with shattered chains is ready to rise up in front of the president.
She also emphasized that the statue was designed without the participation of the freed slaves who paid for it. After being released from slavery, they were glad for any acknowledgment.
Norton stated that famed abolitionist Frederick Douglass, a former slave, spoke at the dedication of the monument but did not laud it.
Douglass’s speech conveys various emotions. He calls Lincoln the President of the white man, but then hails him as a wonderful liberator who loathed slavery.
Douglass stated during the statue presentation that they did well for their race that day. They had defended themselves from a scandal and fastened themselves to an eternal reputation and glory by honoring our ally and liberator.
He added that, in reference to the scandal, they would be blamed for their ungratefulness toward their liberator.
In his letter written to a Republican newspaper, Douglass publicly expressed his desire to see a monument of a standing, fully-clothed freed slave. The letter was later reproduced in the Smithsonian Magazine. A more masculine demeanor would have suggested independence instead of the monument depicting the black man on his knee.
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