As municipalities across the country bow to pressure from the corporate media and Black Lives Matter protesters to remove statues of historical figures and scrub their names from history, one county in New York is refusing to remove a statue of legendary President Teddy Roosevelt.
Nassau County refused Monday to rename the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building, and has no intention of removing the statue of Roosevelt that stands outside the county headquarters.
In a statement, Nassau County Executive Laura Curran took a bold stand, stating, “President Theodore Roosevelt was a son of Nassau County whose boldness of vision and significant accomplishments still set the standard for American leadership.”
Curran’s statement also noted, “Teddy Roosevelt established the United States as an enduring world power, introduced consumer protection as a critical function of government, pioneered our national park system and the cause of environmental conservation. There will be no change to the name of the Theodore Roosevelt Executive and Legislative Building, and the statue erected in his honor will stay right where it is.”
— Laura Curran (@LauraCurran516) June 22, 2020
The statement comes after the American Museum of Natural History in New York decided to remove a statue of Roosevelt to please Black Lives Matter. The supposed racism of the statue or Roosevelt himself was never substantiated.
Spokesman Mike Fricchione said Monday, “The decision in New York City has recently sparked a debate on Theodore Roosevelt’s great legacy in this country, so County Executive Curran wanted to make her position crystal clear.”
Roosevelt, whose prodigious list of accomplishments include establishing the National Parks system, serving heroically in the Spanish-American War, breaking up the Standard Oil Monopoly, surviving an assassin’s gunshot mid-speech and going on to finish his remarks, and being the inspiration for the teddy bear, is the latest American historical figure to come under attack for being successful, white, and male.
On Monday, police saved a statue of President Andrew Jackson from a crowd of vandals, removing ropes fastened around the stonework and arresting those responsible.