The city of New York approved Monday, October 18 the removal of the statue of Thomas Jefferson, one of the founding fathers of the United States, who has presided over its council chamber for more than a century, because of his slave past.
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A commission of the city council unanimously adopted the principle of the withdrawal of Jefferson, who was also one of the authors of the declaration of independence of the United States.
He held more than 600 slaves on his plantation in Virginia.
He had six children from one of these slaves.
The removal of the statue had been requested for several years by Latino and black city councilors, and the statue is now expected to join a New York City Historical Society hall.
Third US President, "
Jefferson represents some of the most shameful pages in our country's long and nuanced history
," said African-American New York City Councilor Adrienne Adams.
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The debate on the presence of this statue in the council chamber of the city hall of New York had been revived with the
Black Lives Matter
movement
,
born from the death of the African-American George Floyd, asphyxiated under the knee of a white police officer. in May 2020 in Minneapolis.