Albany Mayor Kathy Sheehan, a Democrat, recently disclosed in an interview with the New York Times that a statue of Major General Philip Schuyler, a Revolutionary War general from the 18th century, was taken down from its position outside Albany’s City Hall in New York.
The decision to remove the statue was influenced, in part, by concerns expressed by Black members of Mayor Sheehan’s staff regarding Schuyler’s status as the largest slave owner in the city during his time. Besides his military role in the Revolutionary War, Schuyler had also been a member of the Continental Congress and a United States senator.
Instead of being permanently removed, the statue will be relocated to a museum or institution, where it will be displayed alongside relevant historical context. Mayor Sheehan informed the Times that the statue had been an unavoidable fixture for anyone entering City Hall, but its removal had been temporarily delayed due to budget constraints and the pandemic. Sheehan further noted that the community was well aware of Schuyler’s history as a slaveholder and that the remains of many enslaved individuals had been discovered on his property.
However, not everyone supports the decision to remove the statue. Representative Elise Stefanik, a Republican from New York who represents a district in Northern New York, has accused Mayor Sheehan of attempting to erase history through the removal of Schuyler’s statue.
On the other hand, Alice Green, the executive director of the Center for Law and Justice, a local civil rights organization, has supported Mayor Sheehan’s decision, arguing that it is inappropriate to have a statue of someone who enslaved numerous African Americans in a public area.
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