A statue of former U.S. in front of the in New York City will be removed, a statement from said Sunday.
Following the museum's request to remove the statue, which features the nation's 26th President on a horse with a Native American man standing on one side and an African man standing on the other, the mayor's office announced the approval.
The announcement comes as with how to handle removals of
"The American Museum of Natural History has asked to remove the Theodore Roosevelt statue because it explicitly depicts Black and Indigenous people as subjugated and racially inferior," de Blasio's office said in a statement to CNN. "The city supports the museum's request. It is the right decision and the right time to remove this problematic statue."
While it was meant to celebrate Roosevelt as a "devoted naturalist and author of works on natural history," the statue also "communicates a racial hierarchy that the museum and members of the public have long found disturbing,"
No date has been set for the removal and the mayor's office is still working to determine next steps, a spokesperson for the mayor's office told CNN Sunday.
The statue, titled was commissioned in 1925 and made its debut in 1940 as part of the state's larger memorial to Roosevelt, according to the museum.
"To understand the statue, we must recognize our country's enduring legacy of racial discrimination -- as well as Roosevelt's troubling views on race," the press release said. "We must also acknowledge the museum's own imperfect history. Such an effort does not excuse the past but it can create a foundation for honest, respectful, open dialogue."
Last week, in neighboring New Jersey, trustees at voted to remove former name from the campus's Great Hall.
"Wilson was a controversial politician, who never actually set foot in the current building," university president Patrick Leahy said in a statement to students on . "Removing his name, and incorporating these earlier names, connects the centerpiece of our campus more accurately to our historical roots and eliminates a symbolic barrier to the important work of creating a truly welcoming and inclusive space in the Great Hall."
The school will instead honour its lead designer Julian Abele, one of the first professional trained African American architects, according to a statement from the university.
Wilson, for whom theschool is named for, once called "a benefit" and defended the enslavement of Black people by saying slaves "were happy and well-cared for."
He also denied admission to African American men and when he was president of the university in 1902.
Princeton wasbut did not rename the school.
