Statue Of Doctor Who Experimented On Slaves Should Be Pulled Down In Central Park, Protesters Say

CENTRAL PARK, NY — The statue of J. Marion Sims, a 19th-century doctor hailed as the "father of modern gynecology," stands in Central Park bordering East Harlem on Fifth Avenue and East 103rd Street. In the wake of a deadly white-supremacist demonstration in Charlottesville local officials want the statue removed.

City Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito held a press conference in front of the statue Monday with Harlem leaders to call on the city to remove the statue as part of its 90-study into identifying the city's "symbols of hate."

“We must send a definitive message that the despicable acts of James Marion Sims are repugnant and reprehensible,” Mark-Viverito said at the press conference, as reported by the Daily News.

Sims has drawn the ire of Harlem officials because he experimented on African slaves without consent or any form of anesthesia during his medical career. His statue stands across from the New York Academy of Medicine.

Mayor Bill de Blasio addressed the statue in a separate press conference Monday, saying it would be looked at in the city's 90 day review.

"That is obviously is one of the ones that will get very immediate attention because there’s been a tremendous concern raised about it.," de Blasio said Monday.

When asked, the mayor declined to give his personal take on the J. Marion Sims statue.

On Saturday, activist group Black Youth Project 100 held a rally in front of the statue to draw attention to Sims' inhumane treatment of black women.

"J. Marion Sims was a gynecologist in the 1800s who purchased Black women slaves and used them as guinea pigs for his untested surgical experiments. He repeatedly performed genital surgery on Black women WITHOUT ANESTHESIA because according to him, 'Black women don't feel pain,'" the group posted on its Facebook page.

Photo by romana klee via Flickr/Creative Commons