American composer Stephen Foster is the latest target of those wanting to ban statues they deem racially insensitive.
As Fox News reports, a statue of Foster in his hometown of Pittsburgh is under attack by some locals because it features the 19th century composer sitting above a barefoot slave playing the banjo.
Foster wrote such standards “Oh! Susana,” and “Old Black Joe” that celebrated his perception of the unhurried Southern lifestyle. He is known as “America’s first composer” and was considered a sort of musical poet laureate in his lifetime.
The Pittsburgh monument was dedicated in 1900 and today can be found in close proximity to the Stephen Foster Memorial, housed at the University of Pittsburgh.
According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, the statue has generated controversy in the past over its alleged “appropriation of black culture.”
Some city residents complained at a recent meeting of art commission.
“It just doesn’t really portray something that as a community we should be supporting,” Abigail Benkovich told Fox News, though she noted that she does appreciate that the statue belongs to another time.
But some residents question the motivation for removing Foster from his native Pittsburgh. “It’s been that way for a long time,” Charles Bose told Fox. “It’s part of history, and that’s why it should be left alone.”
Benkovich offered a third option: “Maybe it should come with a description,” she told Fox news.
The mayor of steel town says he is between a rock and hard place over the issue.
“Deciding what happens to sculptures is an uncomfortable position for a politician to be in,” Mayor William Peduto said in a statement to Fox News. “Whatever I do will be based on findings by the experts on the Art Commission, and upon the history of the statue, the history of Stephen Foster, where we are today as a culture, and the impact of the art itself on our city.”
Other residents are wondering why some Americans have suddenly become so obsessed with removing statues across the country when there are so many other things to talk about.
“I just think we need to tackle some bigger issues first,” Ben Snyder noted to Fox.
