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Lin-Manuel Miranda doesn’t object to Alexander Hamilton statues removal

Lin-Manuel Miranda won’t object if activists call for the removal of statues of U.S. Founding Father Alexander Hamilton.

The actor and composer turned the 18th-century statesman into a hero thanks to his hit Broadway musical, Hamilton, but the Black Lives Matter protests over the summer prompted a new focus on the politician’s life, with many people pointing out he didn’t do enough to end slavery.

Hamilton cast recently reunited

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As a result, Miranda believes statues of the man he portrayed on stage could be coming down as activists demand the removal of memorials to those who supported slavery.

Although Hamilton personally opposed slavery, his wife came from a slave-holding family and historians have accused him of involvement in slave dealings.

“We were obviously never trying to make idols of these people,” the star tells Britain’s Daily Telegraph. “The goal was to make them as human and as flawed as possible… If there’s any thesis in the show, it’s that these guys were making it up as they went along… and their foibles and their contradictions make it into the contradictions of our founding.

Lin-Manuel talks about shooting Hamilton for film

“In terms of criticism (of Hamilton and his fellow Founding Fathers), it’s all valid. I don’t believe criticism equals cancellation. I know what didn’t make it into the show; I’m the one who spent six years writing it. That’s part of what comes with taking real life and trying to smoosh it into two and a half hours of musical theatre. There’s always going to be stuff that doesn’t make it in… Everything that’s not in the show is fair game to point out.”

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