critics like former mayor bill de blasio say it depicts indians and blacks as subjugated people. now it s being moved. it s fair to say we should see these as complicated kinds of issues. roosevelt was a complicated person, both in his motivations and consequences. the museum is a complicated place. fraser is a complicated sculptor. the museum says the statue portrays a racial hierarchy that people have long found disturbing. it calls the move incredibly rare but the right course of action. the meaning of the statue started to change as we thought about what our social landscape looked like. reporter: roosevelt, who served as new york s 33rd governor, was hailed for progressive policies and as a
after nearly 80 years, a statue of president theodore roosevelt no longer sits in front of the american museum of natural history in new york. it was removed this week amid criticism that it was a symbol of racism and colonialism. cnn s athena jones has the story. reporter: the equestrian statue of theodore roosevelt spent eight decades welcoming visitors to new york city s museum of natural history. the statue, commissioned in 1925 and designed by sculptor james earl fraser, debuted in 1940. the president is depicted on horseback, surrounded by a native american figure and a black figure.