Student activists at the University of Wisconsin-Madison are calling for a statue of former President Abraham Lincoln, who ended slavery, to be removed because, they say, Lincoln is a “symbol of white supremacy.”
“Two student organizations, the Black Student Union and the Student Inclusion Coalition, pushed for the statue’s removal in early June, days after George Floyd died in Minneapolis police custody and protests erupted nationally over racial injustice,” The Wisconsin State Journal reported. “The students’ efforts gained newfound attention after protesters tore down two other statues at the state Capitol earlier this week — one of Civil War abolitionist Hans Christian Heg and another of a female figure that represents the state’s ‘Forward’ motto.”
Hans Christian Heg was “an abolitionist who died trying to end slavery during the Civil War,” The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reported. The female figure that represented the state’s “Forward” motto was an “allegory of devotion and progress,” according to the Wisconsin Historical Society.
The statue of Lincoln has been on the campus for well over 100 years and sits at the top of Bascom Hill.
Black Student Union president Nalah McWhorter told the local newspaper, “For him to be at the top of Bascom as a powerful placement on our campus, it’s a single-handed symbol of white supremacy.” – READ MORE
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