Remove The Emancipation Memorial/Freedman Statue

This statue does not represent freedom to the people it should. Its removal is necessary for the healing of Boston and Massachusetts community/civilians, especially for constituents of colour.

This is one of the most dehumanizing and offensive “memorials “ I have ever seen.

This dehumanizing statue definitely needs to go.

Why would you want something paid for by Black Americans taken down? This is just crazy in my opinion. I want all the white supremacy things taken down, but this isn't one of them at all. It honestly makes everyone appear uneducated. an African American woman named Charlotte Scott of Virginia used the first $5 she earned in freedom to kick off a fundraising campaign as a way of paying homage to Lincoln after he was assassinated in 1865. You are actually making the worst kind of racist happy about this. They don't want to see that broken chain on this statue anymore because they want slavery back

So glad to see it coming down!!

This statue reeks of white saviorism. Remove it to a museum with a good explanation of its time and place. It does not belong in public in 2020.

There is no place for this statue. Please remove immediately.

That statue is racist.

Li-Fi ownii.net

The enlightened view of that time, opposed by Frederick Douglass, looks blatantly racist today.

Read up on its symbolism, and why the freed slaves were so willing to pay for it. It speaks more than what meets the eye. No one seems willing to see past the kneeling bc we see it from a 2020 standpoint, not an 1880’s one.

While this is true . It wasn’t how it was because people WERE not free. Such sculptures only preserve discrimination bc those looking at it, do not see what the ones who paid for it (freed slaves) saw in this powerful imagery of a slave being freed—- never ever to be on their knees again. It’s imagery gets changed bc we forget what horrific history was like for those who suffered through slavery. We see it through our eyes today, not what the 19th century slaves saw, when it was unveiled to them. They understood because they knew what it was like to not be free. We cannot know that, bc no one today has been enslaved. Discriminated against, yes. But never the horror of being enslaved.

Freed slaves paid for this statue, and approved it. We look at it through 21st century eyes, not 19th century eyes. Slaves were expected to be on their knees, beneath whites. They didn’t know anything else but wanted to Not be that way.... here, is mighty powerful symbolism, lost on many bc it angers them to see a black man on his knees in front of a white person.... yet, he is on his knees, in broken shackles... atop the emancipation proclamation..... Lincoln’s arms, outstretched to help him up. No longer does he has to stay on his knees—- it’s a powerful moment when the former slave realizes—- HE IS FREE! That is why actual slaves, who lived through it.... approved this powerful imagery. That is a part of African American history that is being forgotten and destroyed. We cannot forget slavery, because it never should be repeated.

white people think they're so great theyactually made a satue to commemorate their savagry. And then want blacks to worship them because they're free, well they never should have been enslaved.

I feel badly for Tory Bullock, who like many in childhood, misunderstand ideas of the adult world. He needed adults in his life who could explain the meaning and details of the statue that was dedicated by a beloved black man, Frederick Douglass. I am sorry to hear the statue will be removed and no education really taking place. The truth is being replaced with a child's confused idea of what he saw. Childish concepts must be replaced with adult understanding, or we will always live with the immature demands of children.

Thank you if you can help me by signing and sharing my petition asking WaPo to stop using “Democracy Dies in Darkness” because we need inclusive language: www.Change.org/DarkIsGood Thank you if you can help me by signing and sharing my petition asking the police to stop using dark silhouettes of humans against white backgrounds for target practice: www.Change.org/ChangePoliceTargets

Freedom will not be granted to man by any human being Because all human beings are inherently free and equal So the Lincoln statue is no longer a symbol of freedom, but a symbol of the discrimination and deprivation of freedom of some human beings at some point in history. Such sculptures will preserve discrimination and deprivation of liberty in society

Hello, I grew up in Boston and my family still lives there. I would appreciate it if you could remove the emancipation statue because it is demeaning and offensive so my Black friends and neighbors s Thank you, Elise

I was created FREE

I live in this neighborhood and the racist statue has got to go! It is offensive and is a relic of our racist past. Replace it with a freed slave and Lincoln standing shoulder to shoulder with their hands clasped together and both held high! Make them both strong and proud! We don't need 75, primarily white, unmasked cops protecting this racist icon on a Saturday. That money alone would pay for its removal. It has to go away NOW!