Pressure is mounting in Washington, D.C. to remove the Emancipation Statue in Lincoln Park because of its depiction of a former slave beside President Abraham Lincoln.

“Frederick Douglass has a lot to do with this statue; he was there for the unveiling of the statue and the dedication, and he spoke that day, he was the keynote speaker,” said Robert Benz, Executive Vice President and Co-Founder of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives.

What You Need To Know


  • A statue in Washington, D.C. is drawing controversy for its depiction of a former slave next to President Lincoln 

  • Frederick Douglass was at the statue's unveiling, and criticized Lincoln at the time for being a "white man's president"

  • The Executive Vice President and Co-Founder of the Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives believes it’s important for us to take a deeper look at our history and statues

A growing number of people are calling for the removal of the statue depicting Archer Alexander, a former slave, kneeling beside President Lincoln.

“Here, you’re unveiling a statue that portrays his brother, our brothers as salvages, just having broken the chain thanks to Abraham Lincoln,” said Benz.

Benz said Douglass was likely under a lot of pressure to speak about his patriotism at the statue unveiling because of the country’s upcoming centennial celebration — at the same time, the Reconstruction Period was failing Black Americans.

“It certainly looked like a celebration to everyone in the house, perhaps except Frederick Douglass," he said. "Douglass had the ability to see things that other people didn’t.”

During the speech, Douglass praised President Lincoln, while also criticizing the Lincoln's legacy with slavery.

Douglass said in part: "He was pre-eminent the white man's President, entirely devoted to the welfare of white men. He was ready and willing at any time during the first years of his administration to deny, postpone, and sacrifice the rights of humanity in the colored people to promote the welfare of the white people of this country..."

“Douglass does this in speeches throughout his career where he will set the audience up and knock them down,” said Benz.

Benz described the moment similar to Douglass’s 4th of July speech.

“Basically saying 'why did you invite me here? I mean this is your celebration, not mine, and when they unveiled the statue he says this is a white man, he’s not my guy, he’s your guy,'" said Benz.

Although there is debate about the statue, Benz believes it’s important for us to take a deeper look at our history and statues.

“Let’s not just look at them from a temporal standpoint, whether that’s temporal today or even temporal in 1876 when the statue was dedicated, let's take a look at the history behind that statue going up and why did it look the way it did.

The Frederick Douglass Family Initiatives believes there should be a fix to the statue that could be an addition, or add more context.