Chicago Pastor Proves Trump Right Calls for Washington Statue to Be Removed

INJOPresident Donald Trump asked during a combative press conference Tuesday if people would call for statues of America's founding president, George Washington, to be removed. By Wednesday morning, he had an answer.

One Chicago pastor is calling on Mayor Rahm Emanuel to remove a statue of George Washington and change the name of Washington Park on the South Side, WBBM-TV reported, because the United States's first president was a slave owner.

Bishop James Dukes, the pastor of Liberation Christian Center in Chicago, said the bronze statue of Washington on horseback is offensive.

Dukes said:

“When I see that, I see a person who fought for the liberties, and I see people that fought for the justice and freedom of white America, because at that moment, we were still chattel slavery, and was three-fifths of humans. Some people out here ask me, say, 'Well, you know, he taught his slaves to read.' That's almost sad; the equivalent of someone who kidnaps you, that you gave them something to eat.”

Despite having led the American Army in the Revolutionary War, playing a critical role in the country's founding, Dukes said Washington isn't much of a role model for black Americans.

The pastor went on to say there's “no way” the city would consider erecting a statue of controversial activist Malcolm X, comparing a sculpture of Washington in a majority black community to propping up a statue of Lt. Col. George Custer, who led federal troops in battle against Native Americans, on a reservation.

Read the full story on IJR.com

Photo: Getty Images


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