Mississippi city votes to move Andrew Jackson statue to 'less prominent' position

The bronze figure has stood outside City Hall in Jackson since the early 1970s
Protesters tried to remove a statue of Andrew Jackson outside the White House (file pic)
Getty Images
Imogen Braddick8 July 2020

The capital city of Mississippi has voted to relocate a statue of US President Andrew Jackson and put it in a less prominent position.

The City Council in Jackson, Mississippi, voted on Tuesday to relocate the bronze figure which has stood outside City Hall since the early 1970s.

The shift in attitude towards Jackson, who owned slaves and oversaw the forced migration of Native Americans in which many people died, is the latest of many changes as people reconsider monuments to historical figures with connections to slavery and racism.

On Saturday, Baltimore joined Miami and Boston as another city to have a statue of Christopher Columbus pulled down after protesters threw it in the city’s harbour.

Demonstrators tried to pull down a statue of Andrew Jackson outside the White House
AFP via Getty Images

Protesters mobilised by the death of George Floyd at the hands of police in Minneapolis have called for the removal of Confederate statues.

Jackson is Mississippi’s capital city, with a population of about 160,600 and about 82 per cent of its residents are African American.

Andrew Jackson was the seventh president, serving from 1829 to 1837, whose face is on the $20 bill.

Four people have been charged with trying to pull down a large statue of Jackson near the White House during protests on June 22 in Washington.

Additional reporting from the Associated Press

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