UPinion: J. Marion Sims: Keeping White Supremacy on Its Pedestal | East Harlem Preservation
The East Harlem community was pleased to learn that Mayor Bill de Blasio had (finally) agreed with their seven-year call for the removal of the J. Marion Sims statue from its location on Fifth Avenue and 103rd Street.
But, rather than abolishing the theme of a white southern doctor who experimented on enslaved Black women without anesthesia or informed consent, the city has chosen to keep the Sims pedestal (and signage) in place with new language added “to provide context” for his work. This is an unacceptable insult to the East Harlem community—one which has robbed us of the possibility of creating an entirely new, more empowering, artistic vision for the site.
Read more: UPinion: J. Marion Sims: Keeping White Supremacy on Its Pedestal | East Harlem Preservation
Related: Tasteless Tribute | Manhattan Times
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