2023-11-18 16:01:53
It’s great to hear that there are no plans now to display a controversial statue in front of the soon-to-be-built Theodore Roosevelt Library and Museum in Medora. However, it’s troubling to hear that the statue might be shown at a later date. That’s what Library CEO Ed O’Keefe told KFGO Radio.
I have always been a strong supporter of building the library in North Dakota. Our 26th president should be honored, and with Roosevelt’s connection to North Dakota, this state is a perfect place to build the library. The library will be a great place to learn about Roosevelt and bring tourists to the state.
However, those behind the library should permanently close the door on displaying the contentious statue.
That statue was located in front of the American Museum of Natural History in New York City for more than 80 years. The statue portrays Roosevelt on a horse, with a Native American man and an African man standing by his side. Many people have blasted the statue as a symbol of racism and colonialism.
Protests took place by the statue, with demonstrators holding signs that said, “Decolonize This Museum” and “Abolish White Supremacy.” The New York City Public Design Commission unanimously voted to remove the statue, saying, “The statue itself communicates a racial hierarchy the Museum and members of the public have long found disturbing.”
Even Roosevelt’s great-grandsons called for the statue to be removed. Theodore Roosevelt V called it “problematic in its hierarchical depiction of its subjects.”
Kermit Roosevelt III told WABC-TV in New York: “If you look at it now, I think it gives the wrong message … I think the problem is you have a white man on a horse and then a Native person and an African person walking along in this subordinate posture … That’s a statue that people thought at the time was celebrating something great about him, but people’s thinking at the time was very influenced by white supremacy.”
He’s right.
So, the statue was removed last year from the front of the New York museum. It has been loaned to the Theodore Roosevelt Library in Medora. The talk is to possibly “recontextualize” the statue in North Dakota. How does that work? How can something be deemed as racist in New York, but be considered acceptable in North Dakota?
Meantime, hundreds of people have started a petition to have the statue destroyed. According to the New York Post, the petition states, “New Yorkers cannot simply dump their toxic cultural products in other communities.”
Displaying the statue in North Dakota would send an insensitive message and cause a huge controversy. Doing so is asking for trouble. There could be protests and angry denunciations. Many people who would have come to see the library will stay home. Remote North Dakota can’t afford that.
I want the Theodore Roosevelt Library and Museum to succeed. We don’t need a big controversy to overshadow the excellence of the facility.
InForum columnist Jim Shaw is a former WDAY TV reporter and former KVRR TV news director.
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