Roosevelt Statue to Be Removed From Museum of Natural History

[tulipsandroses]

21. There is a also a pic that is the link the OP posted

That is not what that sculpture meant to portray. But as with all art, people will see what they want to see.
You see that - I see colonialism and the imagery of whites subjugating native Americans and blacks. I am appalled that it took this long to remove it.

This is how The Smithsonian describes the statue
The information provided about this artwork was compiled as part of the Smithsonian American Art Museum's Inventories of American Painting and Sculpture database, designed to provide descriptive and location information on artworks by American artists in public and private collections worldwide.
][link:https://www.si.edu/object/siris_ari_6817|

Summary
Roosevelt is depicted on horseback as both hunter and explorer. He is flanked by the figures of two guides, one Native American and one African, meant to symoblize the continents of America and Africa. The Native American figure is striding forward wearing a feather headdress, moccasins and a long sarong around his waist. The African figure is striding forward with a cloth draped over his proper right shoulder and a gun in his proper right hand. Roosevelt grasps the reins of his horse in his proper left hand and
reaches back with his proper right hand as if to grab the gun which he wears in a holster around his waist.

This how the architect of the museum described what would be built
“In the center of the terrace…will arise a polished granite pedestal bearing an equestrian statue of Roosevelt with two accompanying figures on foot, one representing the American Indian and the other the primitive African. This heroic group…will symbolize the fearless leadership, the explorer, benefactor and educator….”—From a description of the architect’s design approved by the Memorial Commission, 1928
[link:https://www.amnh.org/exhibitions/addressing-the-theodore-roosevelt-statue/making-the-statue|