The statue’s current position is apparently too central. It has to be hidden away somewhere and “contextualized.” This is all about power and control.
The College Fix reports:
Walt Whitman statue, a target of protests, to be removed from center of Rutgers–Camden campusRutgers University-Camden will remove a statue of the famous poet Walt Whitman from the center of campus as a result of activists’ petitions and a recommendation from a committee of scholars.The statue of Whitman, featured prominently in the front courtyard of Camden’s Campus Center, will be “relocated to a historically relevant site on campus and contextualized,” interim Chancellor Margaret Marsh recently announced in an email to students and employees.That new location has yet to be announced by campus officials.A petition circulated last year stated that “the statue of Walt Whitman glorifies a man who we should not hold such a place of honor on our campus. … He instead stood for white supremacy and racism against Black and Indigenous Americans.”To address the protests, a Committee on Public Art and History was created, which recently advised Marsh on the statue’s fate as well as a mosaic frieze on the facade of Cooper Library that includes images of Christopher Columbus and Native Americans.The mosaic was covered up last summer after some alleged the artwork is racist. Marsh announced it “will be contextualized and the frieze will be uncovered.”The university will also “establish a formal day to honor and explore the history of Rutgers–Camden, with a particular emphasis on narratives related to racial justice, diversity, equity, and inclusion,” Marsh announced.
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