Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot and city officials are putting George Washington and dozens of other historical American figures under review due to claims of racism.
The Democrat’s goal to expose “hard truths of Chicago’s racial history” came Wednesday in conjunction with the launch of chicagomonuments.org.
“The Chicago Monuments Project intends to grapple with the often unacknowledged — or forgotten — history associated with the City’s various municipal art collections and provides a vehicle to address the hard truths of Chicago’s racial history, confront the ways in which that history has and has not been memorialized, and develop a framework for marking public space that elevates new ways to memorialize Chicago’s history more equitably and accurately,” the website states.
Works currently under review are suspected of “promoting narratives of white supremacy,” “presenting inaccurate and/or demeaning characterizations of American Indians,” “memorializing individuals with connections to racist acts, slavery and genocide,” and other offenses.
A public engagement process regarding the statues’ fate will run until April 1.
“Given the past year and in particular the past summer that made clear history isn’t past, it is essential that residents are a part of this conversation,” Ms. Lightfoot said in a press release, the Chicago Sun Times reported Wednesday. “This project is about more than a single statue or mural. It’s about channeling our city’s dynamic civic energy to permanently memorialize our shared values, history and heritage as Chicagoans in an open and democratic way.”
A sampling of the statues up for debate includes Seated Lincoln in Grant Park, Standing Lincoln in Lincoln Park, Young Lincoln in Senn Park, Lincoln in Lincoln Square, Benjamin Franklin in Lincoln Park, Ulysses S. Grant Monument in Lincoln Park and George Washington in Washington Park.
• Douglas Ernst can be reached at dernst@washingtontimes.com.
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