Italian residents in Chicago upset about Christopher Columbus Statues Coming Down

[Nak Khid]

July 24, 2020

July 24, 2020

Two statues of Christopher Columbus that stood in Chicago parks have been taken down at the direction of Mayor Lori Lightfoot, a week after protesters trying to topple one of the monuments to the Italian explorer clashed with police. Crews used a large crane to remove the statue from its pedestal in downtown Chicago's Grant Park as a small crowd gathered to watch. That's the park where police and protesters clashed a week ago. Hours later, a second statue of Columbus was removed from Arrigo Park in Chicago's Little Italy neighborhood. The Democratic mayor's office said in a statement issued after the statues were taken down that both were "temporarily removed" at the mayor's direction "in response to demonstrations that became unsafe for both protesters and police."

 

Columbus Circle, Manhattan New York

 

 

https://www.nydailynews.com/news/politics/ny-cuomo-columbus-statue-central-park-renewed-calls-20200611-xoo2gonqgbcqnlujtisqc4o3ze-story.html

Cuomo again defends Columbus amid renewed calls to remove statue

NY Daily News 

JUN 11, 2020 

ALBANY — Gov. Cuomo is standing by his man.

The governor again defended New York City’s Christopher Columbus statue on Thursday, calling it a point of pride for Italian Americans like himself, as similar tributes to the explorer have been removed or targeted by protesters in recent days.

“I understand the feelings about Christopher Columbus and some of his acts, which nobody would support, but the statue has come to represent and signify appreciation for the Italian American contribution to New York,” Cuomo said during a briefing in Albany. “For that reason, I support it.”

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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbus_Day

Columbus Day

Celebration of Christopher Columbus' voyage in the early United States is recorded from as early as 1792. In that year, the Tammany Society in New York City[4] (for whom it became an annual tradition)[5][6] and the Massachusetts Historical Society in Boston celebrated the 300th anniversary of Columbus' landing in the New World.[7][8]

For the 400th anniversary in 1892, following a lynching in New Orleans where a mob had murdered 11 Italian immigrants, President Benjamin Harrison declared Columbus Day as a one-time national celebration.[9][10] The proclamation was part of a wider effort after the lynching incident to placate Italian Americans and ease diplomatic tensions with Italy.[9] During the anniversary in 1892, teachers, preachers, poets and politicians used rituals to teach ideals of patriotism. These rituals took themes such as citizenship boundaries, the importance of loyalty to the nation, and the celebration of social progress.[11][12][13]

Many Italian-Americans observe Columbus Day as a celebration of their heritage, and the first such celebration had already been held in New York City on October 12, 1866.[14] The day was first enshrined as a legal holiday in the United States through the lobbying of Angelo Noce, a first generation Italian, in Denver.[15] The first statewide holiday was proclaimed by Colorado governor Jesse F. McDonald in 1905, and it was made a statutory holiday in 1907.[16][17]

In 1934, as a result of lobbying by the Knights of Columbus and New York City Italian leader Generoso Pope, Congress passed a statute stating: "The President is requested to issue each year a proclamation (1) designating October 12 as Columbus Day; (2) calling on United States Government officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on Columbus Day; and (3) inviting the people of the United States to observe Columbus Day, in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies that express the public sentiment befitting the anniversary of the discovery of America.

Opposition to Columbus Day dates back to at least the 19th century, when anti-immigrant nativists sought to eliminate its celebration because of its association with immigrants from the Catholic countries of Ireland and Italy, and the American Catholic fraternal organization, the Knights of Columbus.[84] Some anti-Catholics, notably including the Ku Klux Klan and the Women of the Ku Klux Klan, opposed celebrations of Columbus or monuments about him because they thought that it increased Catholic influence in the United States, which was largely a Protestant country.[84]

By far the more common opposition today, decrying both Columbus' and other Europeans' actions against the indigenous populations of the Americas, did not gain much traction until the latter half of the 20th century. This opposition was initially led by Native Americans and was expanded upon by left-wing political parties.[85][86][87] Two surveys conducted in 2013 and 2015 by Rasmussen Reports found 26% to 38% of American adults are not in favor of celebrating Columbus Day.[88][89]

There are many interrelated strands of criticism. One refers primarily to the treatment of the indigenous populations during the European colonization of the Americas which followed Columbus's discovery. Some groups, such as the American Indian Movement, have argued that the ongoing actions and injustices against Native Americans are masked by Columbus myths and celebrations.[90] American anthropologist Jack Weatherford says that on Columbus Day, Americans celebrate the greatest waves of genocide of the American Indians known in history.[91]

A second strain of criticism of Columbus Day focuses on the character of Columbus himself. In time for the 2004 observation of the day, the final volume of a compendium of Columbus-era documents was published by the University of California, Los Angeles's Medieval and Renaissance Center. It stated that Columbus, while a brilliant mariner, exploited and enslaved the indigenous population.[92]

Spelman College historian Howard Zinn described some of the details of how Columbus personally ordered the enslavement and mutilation of the native Arawak people in a bid to repay his investors.[93]

Journalist and media critic Norman Solomon reflects, in Columbus Day: A Clash of Myth and History, that many people choose to hold on to the myths surrounding Columbus. He quotes from the logbook Columbus's initial description of the American Indians:

"They do not bear arms, and do not know them, for I showed them a sword, they took it by the edge and cut themselves out of ignorance.... They would make fine servants.... With 50 men we could subjugate them all and make them do whatever we want." 

 

Edited July 24, 2020 by Nak Khid