As the intense revisiting and reassessing of history continues after the increased awareness on race spurred by the the death of George Floyd, Boston has decided to remove a statue of Abraham Lincoln which had a emancipated black man kneeling by his feet.

The controversial statue was Boston’s copy of the famous statue located at the Emancipation Memorial by Thomas Ball. In an unanimous vote, the Boston Art Commission has decided to remove the statue that has been standing in Boston since 1879.

This particular statue has been under intense scrutiny long before the Black Lives Matter movement gained major traction after the death of Floyd. While the original statue was funded by those who were freed by Lincoln’s creed, the design and sculpting was done by a white man.

Before its vote, the commission scheduled two hours of public debate in which proponents and detractors were both given their podiums to explain their stances.

Tory Bullock, an African American artist in Boston, emphasized how the statue feeds into the white narrative that depicts and understands African Americans as a group of people that requires leadership from bright, moral white men like Lincoln.

Bullock said that the issue of slavery has been one of painful trauma for all African Americans, which is why he finds it dastardly that so many glorify and hold Lincoln as some sort of savior although all he did was right a serious wrong.

A Harvard student said that regardless the intentions, the sculptor was still a white man with white intentions and thus the statue must be deemed a white creation.

While no one directly argued for the statue, some did say that the statue should be left where it is, with added explanations on the historical context. However, one member of the commission said that changing or adding the text was insufficient, citing a story he heard.

He said that he recently heard of two mothers who took their children to see the statue. The children, after recognizing the black male, identified either themself or their fathers with the black male who is depicted as naked and kneeling. This, the member said, was proof of the visual effects of the statue.

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Replaced!