Activists push for removal of Emancipation statue
Marcus Goodwin, D.C. council candidate, weighs in on ‘America’s News HQ.’
D.C. Council candidate Marcus Goodwin, who is helping lead the charge to remove the controversial Emancipation Memorial in Washington, D.C., told "America's News HQ" Sunday he hopes to replace it with a monument to an African-American woman, suggesting Underground Railroad leader Harriet Tubman could fit the bill.
"We laid out clearly on our petition that we would like to see the statue put into a museum where it can be properly contextualized, and we would like to see it replaced preferably with an African-American woman because they have been grossly underrepresented in the District of Columbia where we are the largest demographic group," Goodwin said.
"I’m a DC native, so I have special feelings towards ensuring that we have fair and equitable representation so that we are creating a future that lives up to the promise of our founding fathers that all people are created equal."
DC'S EMANCIPATION STATUE WAS FUNDED BY FORMER SLAVES: REPORT
The statue depicted Civil War-era President Abraham Lincoln standing over a kneeling black man newly freed from slavery. Critics claimed the image communicated the black man's subservience -- and have called for the statue to be removed.
The park service erected a barrier and deployed police around the statue last Thursday as protesters vowed to hold a demonstration at the monument.
DC PROTESTERS CONDEMN EMANCIPATION MEMORIAL IN LINCOLN PARK
On Wednesday, Eleanor Holmes Norton, D.C.'s non-voting House delegate, announced she will introduce legislation to remove the statue from Lincoln Park, Washington's WJLA-TV reported.
"I think we need context, knowing and understanding, because most people who see that -- especially in our generation, see someone being degraded, someone being demeaned and don't see fair or equitable representation in society for African-Americans," Goodwin said.
"Our most disenfranchised group has been subject to this kind of representation in our public spaces, so in the statue, which I got up close and personal to, I saw something that was antithetical from what Abraham Lincoln would've wanted to see."
DC'S CONGRESSIONAL DELEGATE WANTS 'PROBLEMATIC' LINCOLN STATUE REMOVED FROM LINCOLN PARK
Goodwin suggested replacing the statue with a "contemporaneous African-American who is then a part of the charge," suggesting Tubman or abolitionist statesman Frederick Douglass.
Fox News' Jack Durschlag and Gillian Turner contributed to this report.
Fox News First
Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox.
By entering your email and clicking the Subscribe button, you agree to the Fox News Privacy Policy and Terms of Use, and agree to receive content and promotional communications from Fox News. You understand that you can opt-out at any time.