Del. Eleanor Holmes Norton (D), Washington, D.C.’s nonvoting representative in the House, is introducing a bill to remove the Emancipation Statue from the city’s Lincoln Park.
“The designers of the Emancipation Statue in Lincoln Park in DC didn’t take into account the views of African Americans. It shows,” Norton tweeted Tuesday afternoon. “Blacks too fought to end enslavement. That’s why I’m introducing a bill to move this statue to a museum.”
The statue was designed by sculptor Thomas Ball, with funds to build the monument solicited exclusively from freed slaves, according to the National Park Service. Frederick Douglass spoke at the statue’s dedication in 1876.
Norton said Tuesday that she is also seeking the removal of the Andrew Jackson statue at Lafayette Square that’s across the street from the White House.
Jackson, the country’s seventh president, owned more than 100 slaves and passed the Indian Removal Act of 1830, leading to the Trail of Tears.
“This prominent location in the nation’s capital, right outside of the White House, should never have honored a man who owned slaves and was responsible for the deaths of roughly 4,000 Native Americans,” Norton said. “Jackson’s entire tenure is a shameful part of our history, and I will see to it that he is no longer honored with a statue in Lafayette Park.”
Protestors in the District tried to topple the Jackson statue Monday night before being dispersed by police.
Norton’s efforts comes as protestors nationwide have been taking down numerous statues and monuments of Confederates and other controversial figures for the past two weeks amid continuing protests sparked by the police killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis at the end of May.