ROCHESTER, N.Y. -- Historical imagery at Rochester's Ontario Beach Park is being re-examined. Some are taking offense to a painted piece of history on the 110-year-old Dentzel Carousel.
Rochester Mayor Lovely Warren reacted Sunday to an old image depicting two enslaved African American children painted on the carousel.
Mayor Warren says people have recently found the image racist and oppressive. She says the debate is much like discussions surrounding the Confederate battle flag.
As for this local painting, Mayor Warren says, erasing history is not an option.
"You want people to know and recognize their history and understand their history," said Warren. "I don't ever want to forget. My family came from South Carolina and they would take us back to where they came from, where they had to work in the fields and talk about what our history was. It's very important that we pass that on, generation to generation."
Mayor Warren is working to meet with city council to determine what's next. She hopes that will involve a plaque or sign explaining what it represented at the time it was painted.