Remove The Emancipation Memorial/Freedman Statue

Yes. It should have been Lincoln on his knees asking forgiveness from a standing black man.

Thank you, Tory. This statue absolutely must go. Mayor, Walsh, do the right thing.

Enough is enough

The statue is racist and paternalistic. We know better. Be better.

Take it down! BLACK LIVES MATTER

Longtime Cambridge resident, work in Boston.

Our children need to grow up knowing they are welcome and treasured. Symbols matter. Lincoln’s deeds can be commemorated without degrading depictions!

Symbols are important, and this one carries a bad message - to young people and to all of us.

Let’s keep it going! Thank you everyone.

Does not properly celebrate emancipation.

This statue makes me uncomfortable, and I'm white.

Offensive on so many levels. Take it down now!

Crazy they really allowed this to go up in the first place and no one saw this as an issue till 2020 wow smh

BLACK LIVES MATTER

The statue has had the same shocking, bad and sad effects on me as the effects that Tory Bullock so well notes. The statue is a travesty of dominance and inequality. It conveys nothing of the legacy and spirit of Abraham Lincoln and even further debases and enslaves the man kneeling and in chains. Please take this statue down, recycle its materials into something better, something good and true. Black Lives Matter. In my heart, mind, and soul, I hold that Lincoln and the man—free!—women and children, free, too—stand together equal, eye to eye, shoulder to shoulder, going forth in peace, as kin and kind. Let Boston please add to its varied and oft excellent public art a statue—statues!—of that caliber, of a caliber inspiring, telling, evocative, expansive, and true. Let us find a way to have a Lincoln and The Truly Free statue, metal or stone, of yes free and equal body and spirit, in enduring being and going forth together in good, in respect, humanity humane. Thank you, Tory Bullock, for all the good, wisdom, and change toward the good that you bring!

No debate. Remove ASAP THANKS

I’ve passed this statue numerous times, and it always made me feel awkward and embarrassed. It should be moved, preferably out of sight. It’s patronizing and demeaning. It’s not even historically accurate! The Emancipation Proclamation applied only to areas in the South captured by Northern troops during the Civil War, not the states still in the Union. The constitutional amendment that abolished slavery (subject to limitations) wasn’t passed until after Lincoln’s death. U.S. Grant actually liberated and ARMED freed slaves in the South, and they became a significant part of the war effort. How about a statue of a black Union soldier to honor their contributions?

Long time resident of Boston, living in Brighton. I recall decades ago reading a Boston Globe article about how this status was problematic. It's interesting from a historical perspective, suggesting the future failure of Reconstruction, but does not reflect our ciey's present or future and should be replaced.

Would love to see a juried competition for a replacement installation.

Yay, Mr. Bullock!