A controversial statue in New York of a doctor who operated on enslaved women was defaced by a vandal who spray-painted the word ‘racist’ on it.
The graffiti defacing the bronze statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims in Central Park was discovered on Saturday morning.
The word ‘racist’ was written on the back of the statue in red paint, and the figure’s eyes and neck were marked with red paint as well.
A statue of Dr. J. Marion Sims in Central Park was found vandalized on August 26
Along with the writing the word ‘racist’, the vandal put red paint in Sims’ eyes
The J. Marion Sims statue stands near the corner of 5th Avenue and 103rd Street on August 22, 2017 in New York.The Black Youth Project 100, an activist group founded in 2013, is calling for the removal of the statue
Sims was known as the father of modern gynecology.
Critics say his use of enslaved African-American women as experimental subjects was unethical.
Sims developed the first consistently successful operation for vesicovaginal fistula, a catastrophic complication of childbirth among 19th century American women.
He performed experimental surgery on 12 enslaved women in Montgomery, Alabama between 1845 and 1849.
Then women were brought to Sims by their masters because they had fistulas. Sims took responsibility for their care on the condition that the masters provide clothing and pay taxes.
He named three enslaved women in his records: Anarcha, Betsy, and Lucy. Each suffered from fistula.
He experimented on each of them several times, operating on Anarcha 13 times before her fistula repair was declared a success.
The women were not given anesthesia because Sims said it was not common practice at the time. It was also believed that black people did not feel as much pain as white people.
This image shows a woman, believed to be Anarcha, sitting on the operating table. Sims operated on Anarcha 13 times before the fistula repair was considered a success
Sims was a 19th century physician who operated on 12 enslaved women without anesthesia to develop a method for curing fistulas from childbirth
The bronze and granite monument stands on the park’s perimeter in East Harlem.
Harlem residents have called for its removal for years. Their effort, lead by the Black Youth Project 100, got a boost after last week’s events in Charlottesville.
On August 19, protesters gathered around the statue. Women wore hospital robes with paint made to look like blood.
‘Memorializing of imperialist slaveholders, murderers and torturers like J. Marion Sims is white supremacy,’ said Rossanna Mercedes, 27, a member of Black Youth Project 100.
‘We will no longer allow government institutions like the New York City Parks Department to passively allow symbols of oppression,’ she said.
Protesters gathered at the statue on August 19. The effort is lead by the Black Youth Project 100 in New York City
Many of the women at the August 19th demonstration wore hospital robes with red paint to symbolize blood
East Harlem City Council member Bill Perkins spoke at a rally on August 21.
‘Once the community began to study these statues and understand what they mean, they found out that they come from a mentality and an era that are quite inconsistent with today and the future,’ Perkins said.
‘While one might say it’s just standing there, it represents us, and I don’t believe that the community in general finds this something to brag about,’ he said.
Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the Sims statue will be included in an examination of all public art for ‘symbols of hate’ in the next three months.
‘I’m not going to comment on every statue but this is certainly a troubling example,’ he said of the Sims statue.
According to the Central Park Conservancy website: ‘Sims’ work is often credited for giving the field status as a separate medical specialty. He founded the first hospital for women in America in New York City in 1855.
‘In recent years he has become a controversial figure for his use of slaves as experimental subjects,’ the site says.
Locals have been calling for the removal of the statue for years. Their effort got a boost following the violence in Charlottesville, as many politicians and activists are calling for monuments dedicated to Confederate-era and other controversial figures to be taken down
A tourist bus passes the monument in East Harlem. Mayor Bill de Blasio said that the Sims statue will be examined with other public art for ‘symbols of hate’ in the next three months