In 1999 James Loewen argued in Lies Across America that the statue was erected when the museum was openly racist, and that the arrangement of the figures is meant to advocate white supremacy.[4] Despite Loewen's and others' remarks about the statue, this equestrian statue was never the subject of public controversy in the 20th century. It was mentioned in the April 2017 TED talk Can Art Amend History? by artist and activist Titus Kaphar, discussing the choice of pose showing that "Teddy Roosevelt is sitting there ...and on the left-hand side of him is a Native American walking and on the right-hand side of him is an African-American walking" as a representation of white social hierarchy in America.[5][6] After the Unite the Right rally due to the controversial removal of an equestrian statue of Robert E. Lee, this and many other statues across America also became the focus of attempts to clean up America's "racist past". This statue was defaced with red paint on the morning of October 26, 2017. A few hours later, a group claiming responsibility for the defilement stated that the statue embodied “patriarchy, white supremacy, and settler-colonialism.”[7] In January 2018, The New York Times reported that despite the controversy, the government of New York City would not have the statue removed.[8] #interesting #newyork (at American Museum of Natural History) https://www.instagram.com/p/CAeF2q-ByEJ/?igshid=1tmowkyaam4jc